obscurechars1

As some of you may know, I just happen to LOVE the old, forgotten, unused fringe
characters of the DCU. But the comics they appeared in aren't always that easy to
access...

...so, could anybody provide me with some facts about the following characters/features?
Such as basic premise of the comic? Which titles did they appear in?
First appearance? If they've been seen in later years? And so on.

There have been similar threads devoted exclusively to Golden or Silver Age characters,
but here I mix them from all ages.

I'll start with ten (but if I get these questions answered, I have a million more for you.

Could someone point Mikishawm or Rich Morrissey or Mikel Midnight to this thread?

/ola

Rich MorrisseyMember

posted May 03, 2000 04:07 PM

Glad to help! In order...

1. The Adventurers' Club (I know Nelson Strong from SWAMP THING, but what
about the original run?)

This was basically a framing sequence for non-series stories (like the Space Museum
in STRANGE ADVENTURES). Colonel Strong listened to stories of what were supposed to be
high adventure, but most of the published ones were more horror than adventure. It was
one of many unsuccessful attempts at a regular series in ADVENTURE COMICS in the early
'70's, with various writers and artists.

2. Blackmask (an 80s Prestige Format mini)

The only Blackmask I can think of at DC was a Batman villain created by Doug Moench...
a cosmetics heir named Roman Sionis whose attempt at plastic surgery was botched, giving him
an even uglier face. For that reason, he always wore a black wooden mask. The
late Gil Kane created a barbarian hero named Blackmark who he took to several
publishers, including Marvel but not (to my knowledge) DC.

3. The Gorilla Wonders of the Diamond

Another single, nonseries story by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino...one of several
"Strange Sports Stories" that ran in BRAVE & BOLD from #44 through 49 or
thereabouts. Nine gorillas whose minds had been enhanced by a scientist
schemed to conquer the world, under cover of forming their own baseball team.

4. The Maniaks

A humor feature starring a group of rock musicians, by E. Nelson Bridwell and Mike
Sekowsky. They ran in several issues of SHOWCASE in the '60's, one of which had real-life
celebrity Woody Allen attempting to star them in a movie, but didn't get any further.

5. Skull & Bones

Aside from the Yale fraternity, I haven't a clue.

6. Squire Shade

Is this the Golden Age Flash villain who's currently a semi-good guy in STARMAN?
He's another immortal character, and may well have been a squire at one point.

7. Starfire (the Sword & Sorcery title)

A typical barbarian title by David Michelinie and Mike Vosburg in the mid-'70's,
distinguished only by a female lead character. It was set in the future, and Starfire
was the widow of a swordsman who'd taught her everything he knew.

8. Starhunters

Another Michelinie feature, this one set in a spacefaring future with a group of rebels,
led by one Donvan Flint, against a tyrannical government. One of many similar ideas
that (IIRC) sprang up in the wake of the original "Star Wars" movie.

9. Swing with Scooter

A teen title somewhat in the Archie mold, distinguished mainly by the fact that the
hero was a British teen rock star who enrolled in an American small-town high school.
Most of the main characters were a pretty direct parallel to the Archie characters
(Scooter, Penny, Cookie, Sylvester, and Kenny corresponded almost exactly to
Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead, and Reggie), and along with Cynthia
(Scooter's sister), Malibu (Kenny's trenchcoated chum) and Penny's cross-eyed
cat, that was just about the entire cast...

10. U.S.S. Stevens

An excellent series in the war titles of the early '70's, based on writer/artist
Sam Glanzman's actual experiences in the Navy during World War II. Since he owned the
series, he also did a version of this for Marvel as a graphic novel, A SAILOR'S STORY.

Hope this helps!

Boston BrandMember

posted May 03, 2000 04:23 PM

2. Blackmask (an 80s Prestige Format mini)

There were three issues in the mini. I actually have them somewhere, but I
can't recall ever having read them. The character is a non-powered, street
fighter type guy, with an all-black outfit, and a black scarf over his face (like the
Golden Age Firebrand). He's not DCU. I recall that it was a creator-owned project.

5. Skull & Bones

Another non-DCU creator owned prestige mini. Art was by Eduardo Barreto I think,
but I could be totally wrong. I don't have these books. I recall that there was some kind of
a Russian angle to the series, probably espionage-related. The text on the
covers was all in mock-Russian.

That's the best I can do on the unknowns.

D. R. BlackMember

posted May 03, 2000 06:59 PM

Blackmask was writen by Brian Augustyn and illustrated by Jim Baikie.
Blackmask is a Korean War vet, and that's all I know. I have the three issue
series around here somewhere, but haven't found the time to read it. You can
get it really cheap.

Starfire was NOT the widow of Dagan (the swordsman). The two were never
married, but they were lovers before Dagan was tortured to death by
Sookarooth's men.

Here's the skinny; Starfire was raised since birth as a slave of the Mygorg.
Her mother was white and her father was "yellow" (it actually says this in
STARFIRE #1, but we can safely presume that Starfire's father was Asian-American).

Anyway, young Starfire's mixed heritage and beauty draws the attention of King
Sookarooth of the Mygorg. Instead of making her a slve like all the other humans, Sookarooth
has Starfire educated and raised with all the amenities of palace life.

Upon turning 18, Starfire learns that this was because Sookarooth intended for her to
become his mate. Fleeing Castle Mollachon, Starfire heads for the countryside, but is
caught by Sookarooth's men. She is rescued from them by Dagan, a warrior-priest, who
then takes her under his wing and teaches her various forms of combat.

Starfire is a skilled swordsman, archer, and tracker, among others.

Anyway, Dagan is soon captured by Sookarooth, tortured, and killed. Starfire avenges her
lover's death by storming Castle Mollachon, freeing Sookarooth's human slaves, and
she eventually slays Sookarooth himself.

Starfire vows to rid her world of the Mygorg and free her people from slavery.

MikishawmMember

posted May 03, 2000 07:16 PM

Stories featuring different branches of the Adventurers' Club have appeared
since the Golden Age but the official series only ran in ADVENTURE COMICS.
WRATH OF THE SPECTRE # 1 reprinted ADVENTURE # 426's episode. Nelson Strong
died after a futile attempt to capture the Swamp Thing (SWAMP THING # 147).
He was briefly revived by the Parliament of Stones to serve as their elemental champion
(# 149) but his new form was soon dissolved into gas by Swamp Thing (# 150).

Blackmask was Dan Cady, whose three-issue 1994 series was a creator-owned project
from Brian Augustyn and Jim Baike. In the 1950s, Korean vet Dan Cady took the guise of
Blackmask (black leather jacket and pants, plus a bandana-style mask) to free Iroquis
Falls, New York from the grip of the Falcon mob. With the destruction of the mob complete,
Dan tossed his mask in the garbage and left town to truly start his life over.

The Gorilla Wonders of the Diamond appeared in BRAVE & BOLD # 49 (reprinted in
DC SPECIAL # 7).

The Maniaks were Flip, Jangle, Pack Rat and Silver Shannon and they appeared in
SHOWCASE # 68, 69 and 71.

Scooter appeared in SWING WITH SCOOTER # 1-35. Reprints can be found in BEST OF DC
# 39, 45 and 53. Grant Morrison wrote him into an ANIMAL MAN script (with Scooter as a drug
dealer) that (fortunately) never saw print.

Skull and Bones was Andrian Trofimovich. He was part of a covert Russian battalion
in Afghanistan that wore skeleton outfits as uniforms. Horrified by the violence, Andrian
fled and allied himself with CIA agents. He finally quit the war and returned
to Russia, where he dug out his Skull and Bones costume to stop the man who
had created his battalion -- and who now planned to unleash a deadly virus. SKULL & BONES
ran for three issues in 1992 and was a creator-owned project from Ed Hannigan.

Squire Shade was a lookalike for Hawkman foe, the Gentleman Ghost. He was introduced
in the dying days of the DC horror line as the first host that GHOSTS ever had.
Squire Shade's FIRST appearance was in a DC digest. He appeared in:

In Starfire's final recorded adventure, she learned that the alien Mygorg that
ravaged her world had been brought there by a mystic "Eye of Armageddon". The
revelation filled the heroine with "hope! We now know of the Eye of
Armageddon... and that it can be destroyed...and our world made free!"
(STARFIRE # 8). Though they were unaware of it, Starfire and Claw the
Unconquered were two of the eternal champions of the Sornaii (STAR HUNTERS # 7).
Her appearances include:

STARFIRE III:
Starfire # 1-8
Star Hunters # 7
Who's Who '86 # 22

STARFIRE III (variants):
Starman # 55
Swamp Thing # 164

The Star Hunters included Bruce Sellers, Darcy Vale, Donovan Flint, Jake
Hammersmith, Mindy Yano and Theodore McGavin. As they returned to Earth for a final
confrontation with the Corporation that had exiled them in space, McGavin was killed and
Flint made a crash landing on the planet (STAR HUNTERS # 7). The final resolution
of the conflict (written by Gerry Conway) was set to appear in issue # 8 but
it was lost in the DC Implosion. The Adam Strange back-ups for SH # 8 and 9
eventually appeared in WORLD'S FINEST # 263 and GREEN LANTERN # 132. The Star
Hunters appeared in:

...Sterling Silversmith was a Batman foe who appeared in DETECTIVE COMICS in
the 1970s (I remember him being threatened by the Crime Doctor in the 490s...)

I think that 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL was the ONE AND ONLY appearance of the
Lady Cop...

And Viking Commando appeared in ALL-OUT WAR (I think there were only two issues
of that!)

And Hellstone (and the rest), I remember seeing this earlier, but have to ask:

What were the Forgotten Heroes appearances in ACTION? (I know #552 & 553,
but various members had appeared before that...I remember the Cave Carson bit
with the Omega Men, but can't get at the rest!)

D. R. BlackMember

posted May 04, 2000 10:10 AM

ALL-OUT WAR lasted for six issues (around 1979-1980) and Viking Commando was
in all six of them if memory holds.

Starfire also appears in one panel of SWAMP THING #163. Starfire, Claw,
Stalker, and one other sword and sorcery character I dont recognize are all
pictured running away from Nightmaster. She's also pictured in her original
costume (my fave!) except its mistakenly colored blue (it should be green).

D. R. BlackMember

posted May 04, 2000 12:01 PM

Here's the lowdown on issues #2-4 of STARFIRE. As for issue #1, see my first
post.

Starfire #2 - "The Siege of Lortnan Manor"
Written by David Michelinie, Art by Mike Vosburg and Vince Colletta

At Lortnan Manor, young Kyrse Lortnan is about to be killed by a Mygorg warrior for
committing the crime of reading books, an activity forbidden to humans. As his father Velg
Lortan looks on in horror, Starfire and her band of followers arrive just in
time! After a short battle, all the Mygorg in the Manor are killed, but Velg
tells Starfire that the dead Mygorg were only the advance guard for a larger
patrol of Mygorg soldiers. Oops!

Soon after, the entire patrol of Mygorg soldiers storm the walls of Lortnan
Manor. Starfire and her men manage to hold them off, and the Mygorg commander,
Kevarj, retreats. He's already plotting his second attack, and this time
he'll be using sky-beasts, which are pterodactyl like creatures which shoot
heat beams (called "death bolts") from their eyes. Starfire manages to stop
the sky beast once (you've got to see it to believe how she does it!), but
sensing the Mygorg won't stay routed for long, her and her men flee into the
countryside. As she leaves, Starfire is given a map by Kyrse, and the map is
said to lead to the legendary Lightning Lords, beings who have powerful
weapons that could be used in the battle against the Mygorg.

Also, in this issue we meet the first of Starfire's supporting cast, a
balding man named Thrumdahg who wears all blue and swings a nasty axe.
Thrumdahg makes some unwanted advances towards Starfire, and she ends up
showing him exactly who's boss. Embarrassed in front of the men, Thrumdahg
soon grows to resent Starfire, as we'll see in issue #3.

Starfire #3 - "The Arena of the Frost Dragon"
Written by Elliot S! Maggin, Art by Mike Vosburg and Vince Colletta

Still wandering around, Starfire and her followers come across a gladiator pit where a
giant, deformed human is fighting a frost dragon (instead of breathing fire, frost
dragon's breath ice) with a metal ball and chain. With the crowd of Mygorg
engrossed in the battle, Starfire and her men ambush the spectators and free
the giant. The giant is mute, so Starfire decides to name him Thump, saying
that "He looks like a Thump, don't you think?" Thump quickly proves his loyalty
by stopping Thrumdahg's plot to assault and overthrown Starfire as leader of
the rebels.

We also meet Anzus, the group's weapon keeper, who is an older man with a
white beard who wears a purple outfit and a green hooded cape.

Another Mygorg commander tracks down Starfire with the help of a human slave
named Moonwatcher, who is an excellent tracker. Setting up in a nearby Mygorg
village, the commander decides to ambush Starfire's camp at dawn. Moonwatcher
overhears this, manages to kill the commander, and escapes to tell Starfire.
Starfire decides to attack the village before the Mygorg can attack her.
Starfire's army of ex-slaves wins, and they free the human slaves held in the
village, who them join Starfire's ranks.

Starfire wants to continue their quest to find the Lightning Lords but since
nobody knows how to read the map Kyrse gave them (remember, its a crime for
humans to read books), she isn't sure what to do. In a stroke of good luck,
it is discovered that Thump knows how to read. Pointing them in the right
direction, the mute giant leads them onwards.....

Starfire #4 - "Slaves of the Golden Queen"
Written by Elliot S! Maggin, Art by Mike Vosburg and Vince Colletta

While heading through a mountain pass, Starfire and her followers are ambushed by
Nitrons, tribal beats who spurt flame from their tails (really!). A brief struggle ensues,
and the Nitrons manage to steal all the human's food and supplies. Trekking
onwards on empty stomachs, Starfire spots a settlement "with supplies we can
doubtless beg, borrow, or steal" in a nearby canyon.

Starfire, Thump, Anzus, Moonwatcher, and Raynor (not much is revealed about
him) enter the settlement, and they meet the settlement's Queen Karoleen, a
feminist with an attitude who sports a golden helmet which covers half of her
face. "All men are slaves in this city" Karoleen tells Starfire, and you just
know what's gonna happen next. Starfire decides to "trade" three of her men
(Azmodus, Moonwatcher, and Starfire in disguise) for two wagonloads of food.
Once inside, Starfire reveals herself and engages Karoleen in battle. As soon
as this happens, Karoleen sends a group of her female soldiers to reclaim the
food. Raynor, Thump, and Azmodus lead Starfir's followers in defending the
food, while Starfire and Moonwatcher deal with Karoleen.

We learn that Karoleen has much in common with Starfire. She too was destined
to marry Sookaroth and escaped. However, her escape had a price - a hideously
scarred face caused by the Mygorg's flaming arrows. Thus, Karoleen hides the
scarred side of her face behind her golden helmet. To make a long story
short, Karoleen dies fighting Starfire (she plunges to her death), and
Starfire and her merry men escape with the food. They continue along their
journey to find the Lightning Lords.

More later....maybe

MikishawmMember

posted May 04, 2000 09:16 PM

The star of "U.S.S. Stevens" was Sam Glanzman himself, as the series was
autobiographical in nature.

I first saw Astro mentioned by Mike Tiefenbacher in THE COMIC READER # 197
(which includes a color picture of the character, by the way) and it was
because of that write-up that I sought out a copy of HOUSE OF MYSTERY # 140.
Mike described "The Return of Astro" (illustrated by Howard Sherman) as follows:

"Bruce Mills returns to his ancestral home in the Iron Curtain country of Dolomain to
find his parents' village being terrorized by a guy dressed up as the legendary wizard
Count Quivius. To battle him, he costumes himself in Quivius' enemy's
costume, rigging tricks to make it look as if he really is the
equally-legendary Astro -- and ends up discovering that the costume really
was Astro's and that it gives him his magical powers. After vanquishing
Quivius, Mills thinks 'As for the cloak of Astro --with its fantastic powers
-- perhaps I'd better guard it very closely from now on!' Sounds to me like
they were doing a pilot story here."

GANGBUSTERS was based on a radio (and later TV) program and featured stories about
police officers (et al.) for 67 issues from 1947 to 1958. There were no recurring characters
but there were a couple regular features: "A Casebook Mystery" (# 13-19, 22-27,
30-44) and "A Perfect Crime Mystery" (# 1-12). You can find reprints from the
series in BATMAN # 216, DC SPECIAL # 10, DC SUPER-STARS # 9 and DETECTIVE
COMICS # 405, 415, 417, 419, 420, 422- 424, 444 & 445 and WORLD'S FINEST # 177.

Lady Cop was Liza Warner, a one-shot Bob Kanigher character from 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL
# 4 (1975) with art by John Rosenberger and Vince Colletta (underneath a nice Dick Giordano
cover). Liza's roommates were murdered by a Richard Speck-like killer while
she hid beneath a bed. She told the police that "all I could see of the
killer were his western boots -- white -- with black skull and cross-bones
dangling from the laces. And laughing about killing women -- like they were
nothing but cards! Aces of Spades!"

The incident leads Liza to enroll at the police academy and she stops a grenade-wielding
madman at her graduation ceremony. In the second story, Liza helps a young woman
diagnosed with VD. In the final panel, she "wonder(s) if I'll ever find the killer in
boots ?"

The Mercenaries were Gordon (a one-eyed white American), Philip "Prince" Edwards
(a black Englishman) and Horst Brenner (a blonde German). They were deserters from the
French Foreign Legion who sought greater excitement and riches around the
world. They were introduced by Bob Kanigher and Vicatan in G.I. COMBAT # 242
(1982) as a present-day counterpart to World War Two-Korea-Vietnam fare
comprising most of the book. Eventually, the venerable "Haunted Tank" was
bumped from the book altogether and the Mercenaries took the lead (# 282;
1986). Unfortunately, the bland adventures of the trio did not take hold and
the more interesting mix of characters in the Haunted Tank returned in # 285.

The only Split that I'm familiar with was an evil young red-haired man in a red,
white and black jacket who used his teleportation powers to transport members of Hazard's
Black Ops (see STEEL # 6, 8, 0, 19, 25 and 27).

I have no idea who SR12 or the Teutonic Knight are.

Sterling T. Silversmith appeared in the middle chapter of Len Wein's 1975
"Bat-Murderer" five-parter (DETECTIVE # 446), with exquisite art by Jim Aparo. Silversmith
had been obsessed with silver since childhood and, now, as a silver-haired older man,
he had amassed a fortune in stolen goods that he smuggled through his
antiques business. Dapper in his white suit, bullets bounced off Silversmith
thanks to a silver alloy woven into the fabric. When a skeleton belonging to
one of the villain's former henchmen was accidentally discovered within a
statue, Batman investigated and stumbled upon Silversmith's operation.
Fleeing from the scene, the rogue was stopped by a bar of silver thrown into
his shoulders by the Dark Knight.

Silversmith returned in 1980 (DETECTIVE # 495, by Michael Fleisher and Don
Newton). Having learned that Matthew Thorne, the Crime Doctor, was aware of
Batman's true identity, Silversmith demanded the secret, administering poisonous
quicksilver when the doctor proved reluctant. The Doc agreed to tell all in
exchange for an antodote but Batman's unwitting intervention delayed things
too long and Thorne was left a vegetable. Silversmith's WHO'S WHO entry was
in # 22 of the original series.

Andre Reynard, the Third Archer, met Green Arrow and Speedy in ADVENTURE COMICS
# 162, which I have not read.

The Viking Commando appeared in ALL-OUT WAR # 1-6, plus a left-over episode in
UNKNOWN SOLDIER # 266 and 267 and the entry in WHO'S WHO '87 # 25.

Cave Carson returned in ACTION COMICS # 536 and the Forgotten Heroes
began to organize in # 545. After # 552 and 553, they returned in DC COMICS PRESENTS # 77
and 78.

HellstoneMember

posted May 05, 2000 04:48 AM

D.R. & Mikishawm - thanks.

12. So Gangbusters were a licensed comic?

And is there anyone else who can tell me anything about:
15. Split?
16. SR 12?
18. The Teutonic Knight?

No answers over the weekend? Maybe you HAVE tired of me. Oh, well, I'll continue and
we'll see what happens:

Questions that remain:
12. Was "Gangbusters" a licensed comic?

And is there anyone who can give me the skinny of:
15. Split of the Titans?
16. SR 12?
18. The Teutonic Knight?

And, adding ten more to the list - could some please tell me what you know about:

21. The Bombardiers (I know they were the Human Bomb's sidekicks, but what were their
names and what happened to them?)
22. The Flying Boots?
23. The Frogmen?
24. King of the Wild?
25. Manhunters Around the World?
26. O-Sensei? (from RICHARD DRAGON)
27. Sierra Smith?
28. Space Voyagers? (the back-up of RIMA THE JUNGLE GIRL - I've read three
episodes, but I still can't figure out what it is about)
29. The Suicide Squadron? (Yeah - I know it was the pre-Suicide Squad in the
DCU, but where and when did they appear?)
30. Tom Sparks, Boy Inventor?

That's it for this time. See ya soon.

/ola

MikishawmMember

posted May 08, 2000 06:43 AM

Yep, GANGBUSTERS was a licensed comic.

The Bombardiers were Curly McGurk, Swordo and the lovely Red Rogers. In
POLICE COMICS # 21, they were provided with explosive powers by the Human
Bomb and joined in a series of raids on the Japanese army in mid-1943 (# 21-22).
With # 23, the Bomb was back in the States and we never did learn what happened to
his partners.

Don't know much about them but the Flying Boots were Henny, Steve and Tommy Frank
and appeared in STAR-SPANGLED WAR STORIES # 99, 100, 104 and 105 as part of the "War That
Time Forgot" series.

Likewise, I can only provide the name of SHOWCASE # 3's wartime Frogmen. They were
Sardine, Shark and Whale.

SHOWCASE # 2's "Kings of the Wild" featured various characters in wildlife
adventures. One episode ("Rider of the Winds") was reprinted in DC SPECIAL # 5.

"Manhunters Around The World" was just what the name says, a series about detectives
and law officers from anywhere on the globe. There were no recurring characters. This series
ran in STAR SPANGLED COMICS # 94-120, WORLD'S FINEST # 59-61 and SHOWCASE # 5. Reprints can
be found in DC SPECIAL # 10 (from SHOWCASE # 5) and DETECTIVE # 422, 444 & 445.

I'll get back to you on O-Sensei.

Sierra Smith, assisted by the lovely Nan, was a 1940s detective in the Western U.S.
He appeared in DALE EVANS # 1-19, 21-23 and DETECTIVE # 206. James Robinson mentioned his
detective prowess in the recent STARMAN # 18.

Space Voyagers (RIMA # 1-5) made about as much sense to me as it did to you. They
were Armando, Bartt, Melong and Nolan.

The World War Two Suicide Squad fought on Dinosaur Island in STAR-SPANGLED WAR
STORIES # 110-111 (with PT and Prof), 116-121 (with Morgan, Mace and Dino), 125 (Reed and
Mac), 127 and 128.

Tom Sparks was in WORLD'S FINEST # 49-58. No other details, I'm afraid.

The Ghost Who WalksMember

posted May 08, 2000 08:05 AM

Hellstone-
I might be wrong but wasn't SWING WITH SCOOTER published here in Sweden under the name
BINKY? ....or was Binky another DC Archie rip-off?

HellstoneMember

posted May 08, 2000 09:48 AM

Yeah, Binky was another comic entirely.

/ola

XeroMember

posted May 08, 2000 11:11 AM

Any info on the Golden Gladiator?

dataloreMember

posted May 08, 2000 01:35 PM

Golden Gladiator was a Roman Centurion in the time of Christ. He was in early
(pre-50, team-up issues) of BRAVE & BOLD...

...and was suppose to have been possessed by Etrigan the Demon (or the Demon who would
be born in him and become Etrigan), in Rick Veitch's unpublished SWAMP THING #88.

I think O-Sensei was in charge of the League of Assassins (but I'm probably mixing
up characters...)

HellstoneMember

posted May 08, 2000 04:49 PM

Just to keep things clearer (at least for me)...can we call Binky #31 and
Golden Gladiator #32 here? (Yes, I admit, I'm an agent of the Lords of Order.)

As for O-Sensei (#26), datalore...nope. The League of Assassins leader was
only called the Sensei, and he's not the one I'm asking about. But thank you anyway.

/ola

XeroMember

posted May 08, 2000 05:34 PM

Excellent......Hmmm now I've got a challenge for you.

The Yellow Peri
Human Cannonball
Paragon (a villain)

John MooresMember

posted May 08, 2000 06:34 PM

The only Teutonic Knight I know was a foe of Marvel's wartime Invaders, from
the 1970s series of the same name.

I'm gonna leave everything else to Mikishawm and co....I'm more of a Golden Age guy
myself.

HellstoneMember

posted May 08, 2000 06:57 PM

Back to the list of unanswered questions:

15. Split of the Titans?
16. SR 12?
18. The Teutonic Knight - thanks to John for the Marvel character info, but
I've heard there was a DC guy with the name as well. I think he had some
connection to the Global Guardians, but I'm not sure.
22. Is there anyone who has anything to add regarding The Flying Boots?
23. Anyone knows more about the Frogmen?
26. I'm eagerly awaiting the story of O-Sensei.
28. Anyone who saw more sense in the Space Voyagers than I and Mikishawm did?
29. So, Mikishawm, the Suicide Squadron of Dinosaur Island and the SS who
Rick Flag Sr lead are not the same team? When did Flag Sr appear first
anyway? Before or after his son?
30. Anyone who has anything to add about Tom Sparks, Boy Inventor?

And a few answers:

31. Binky first appeared in LEAVE IT TO BINKY #1 (March 48), but i think most
people remember him as a very 1960s/early 70s character.
32. The Golden Gladiator's real name was Marcus. He first appeared in THE BRAVE
& THE BOLD #1 (Sep 55)
33. The Yellow Peri was a teenage witch and a pre-Crisis Superboy foe/friend,
I believe.
34. Human Cannonball - haven't got a clue.
35. Paragon - I know it was a JLofA villain, but that's about all I know.

/ola

MikishawmMember

posted May 08, 2000 09:08 PM

Richard Montgomery Flag (Rick, Sr.) and the more stable Suicide Squad
roster were creations of John Ostrander in SECRET ORIGINS # 14, a means of tying the
"War That Time Forgot" Squad to the 1959-1960 Squad that featured Richard Rogers Flag
(Rick II).

The O-Sensei's story began in Manchuria in 1895 when a Japanese army captain
faced a Chinese captive in unarmed combat. A soldier "helped" by gunning down
the Chinese man and the horrified captain condemned him for his actions,
asserting that he had brought disgrace on himself and the entire army. To
attone, the captain agreed to the victim's dyining request: "I will take his
place" (DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL # 1).

And so, he began "studying the ancient scriptures, practicing the ancient disciplines,
becoming many kinds of a master. Living a life perfect in its austerity, its
discipline and, finally, in its harmony." He refused his wife's 1900 plea to
return to Japan but agreed to her last request: "Promise your bones will rest
with mine" (THE QUESTION ANNUAL # 1).

Decades later, the O-Sensei encountered Benjamin Turner (SUICIDE SQUAD # 38) and Richard
Dragon (RICHARD DRAGON, KUNG FU FIGHTER # 1), sensing the innate goodness that lay
beneath their surface rage. Over six years, he transformed the men into two
of the finest martial artists in the world (# 1) and, having done so,
declared that there was nothing more he could teach them (# 2). Before
leaving, he gave Richard a jade dragon's necklace (# 3).

Months later, Richard and Lady Shiva sought out O-Sensei for his aid in helping a dying
Ben. They discovered that his meditations had been disrupted by Doctor Moon, who sought
the master's knowledge for evil purposes (RD # 14).

After "more than a hundred and fifty winters," the O-Sensei finally decided that his life
had run its course. With Shiva at his side, he sought out the Batman (DETECTIVE ANNUAL # 1),
Green Arrow (GREEN ARROW ANNUAL # 1) and the Question (QUESTION ANNUAL #1), individuals
that he believed could help him honor his vow to his wife. For his heirs,
feeling that he had brought disgrace on the house, were violently opposed to
his presence at the burial grounds.

In the end, it was not the family's actions that stopped the journey but a raging typhoon
that washed the O-Sensei from their boat. His body was lost at sea. Arriving at
the crypt, Shiva learned that the master's wife was NOT buried there. She
discovered later that "the boat carrying the family's goods ran into a storm.
The cabinet containing the wife's remains was swept overboard. It rests -- at
the bottom of the sea" (QUESTION ANNUAL # 1).

Created by Tom DeFalco, the Human Cannonball was Ryan Chase, a would-be super-hero
who grew up in the circus, training for his goal and developing a rocket belt and helmet that
enabled him to blast through the air like a, well, human cannonball. Ryan
wore a green shirt (with a yellow CB emblem) and tights, black pants, gloves
and helmet and violet boots that came up to his thighs (SUPERMAN FAMILY # 188).

Though too cocky for his own good, the Human Cannonball overcame his early blunders to
become an effective, charming partner for Lois Lane (SF # 189, 191). He was a central player
in the battle to free the DNA Project from the control of the evil Adam (# 192-194).

Paragon was Joel Cochin, a mutant who"possessed the physical and mental abilities
of anyone within a certain range -- but whatever they've got, I've got more!" Arrogant in the
extreme, Paragon was able to beat the Justice League one on one by using
their own powers against them in a more effective fashion. His ultimate goal
was the eradication of those who he regarded as his inferiors -- 90% of the
world's population. He was defeated when the united JLA disoriented him.
Paragon was created by Kurt Busiek and featured in JLA # 224 (1984) with art
by Chuck Patton and Dick Giordano.

Bob Rozakis and Kurt Schaffenberger's creation, the Yellow Peri, first crossed paths
with Superboy in NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY # 34 and 35 (1982). Teenager Loretta York had
discovered a magic book that transformed her into the Yellow Peri. Her own
inexperience and a devilish imp named Gazook made Loretta more of a threat
than a help and the Boy of Steel finally threw the book into outer space,
erasing York's memories of the Yellow Peri in the process.

Years later, the book fell back into Earth's atmosphere and returned to Loretta, now
married to a shady character named Alvin Grant. Grant hoped to use the Yellow Peri for a
get-rich-quick scheme. When Superman entered the picture, Alvin tried
unsuccessfully to pit his wife against the Man of Steel. In the end, Superman
agreed to leave the book in Loretta's possession until she proved unworthy of
the power (ACTION # 559).

Months later, Clark Kent and Lois Lane encountered the Grants and, once again, Alvin was
trying to make a quick buck and the Yellow Peri's magic was backfiring. Unable to
destroy the book, Superman encased it in lead, erasing the Grants' memories
of the Yellow Peri once more. Loretta tumbled upon the lead-sealed book
(ACTION # 567) but whether she ever recovered her memories is unknown.

"Split" was a character that Wolfman originally intended to be a part of the
Titans, hence he appears in the special card set for DC VS. MARVEL that was painted by
Julie Bell and pitted the Titans against the X-Men. His primary ability was teleportation,
and if I remember correctly, he was described as kind of a sassy, prankster sort.
To my understanding, he was later given a different name (I don't know what
it was), cast onto the wrong side of the tracks, and used in the SUPERBOY & THE RAVERS
series.

HellstoneMember

posted May 09, 2000 06:36 AM

AwRIGHT! Split has been explained. Thank you.

Now I'm only wondering about SR 12 and the Teutonic Knight.

So...let's add ten more to the obscurity list. It's villain time:
36. Assassination Bureau (Firestorm)
37. Bat Knights (the Atom)
38. Darius Tiko (Challengers)
39. the Deep Six (I know who they are but can someone please clear out all
the members? - they seem to be more than six. Who is dead and who is alive?)
40. the Duke of Oil (Outsiders)
41. the Luck League (?)
42. the Nuclear Family (Outsiders)
43. Power Elite (Starman)
44. Printer's Devil (Green Arrow)
45. Ramulus the Plantmaster (Sandman)

/ola

John MooresMember

posted May 09, 2000 09:35 AM

I'll do Ramulus.

Originally called Nightshade, he first appeared in the Simon/Kirby Sandman
strip in WORLD'S FINEST #6, Summer 1942. He's a green, weird looking guy who
controls electronic plants, and kidnaps a rich couple. Sandman and Sandy
rescue them, and one of Nightshade's plants goes haywire, shakes him "literally to death"
and flings him away, at which point Sandman and Sandy escape the flaming "Magic Forest",
where the Nightshade had his HQ. That was his last appearance in the Golden Age, reprinted in
WANTED #9, Aug/Sept 1973.

He appears again 40-odd years later, in ALL-STAR SQUADRON #51, 1985. He was shown to have
survived, and was thought by the infamous Mr.Mind how to control real fauna. He's now
called Ramulus, to avoid confusion with the Charlton heroine of the same name. He's a member
of the Monster Society of Evil, is defeated and not seen again for quite a while.

His final appearance to date was in a dream sequence in JSA #1, 1999.

MikishawmMember

posted May 09, 2000 07:20 PM

Time is at a premium for me tonight (and possibly tomorrow) so I'm not going
to attempt any bios right now. I'll let someone else take a turn. (Thanks,
John, for Nightshade/Ramulus!)

You HAVE piqued my interest with the Titans version of Split. He sure SOUNDS like the
STEEL character. Is there a picture of that particular card on the web somewhere ?

LarryFMember

posted May 09, 2000 10:41 PM

I would like to know if the following Super Friends ever made appearances in comics?

Black Vulcan
(I am assuming he did not, since he was virtually a gloss on Black Lightning).

Apache Chief
Rima
El Dorado
Samurai

casselmm47Member

posted May 10, 2000 12:57 AM

Rima had her own series in the 70's
http://members.xoom.com/casselmm47/dc70/miscdc/rima.htm

I don't recall the others off hand having made an appearance even in the
SUPER FRIENDS title...

D. R. BlackMember

posted May 10, 2000 11:44 AM

Here we go with some Outsiders baddies:

Nuclear Family - appeared in OUTSIDERS (1st series) #1, #2 and ADVENTURES OF THE
OUTSIDERS #39, #40. Their appearance in AOTO is a reprint of their first appearance.

Dr. Eric Shanner is an old man who is strongly opposed to nuclear energy. In
order to convince the world of the damage that one nuclear device's explosion
would do, he creates the Nuclear Family, a group of sentient robots whose
individual powers mimic the stages of a nuclear explosion. The Family
consists of Dad, who emits radiation; Mom, who produces electromagnetic
pulses; Biff, who produces a thermal (heat) pulse; Sis, who emits a
destructive blast wave, and Brat and Dog, who are both able to turn
themselves into radioactive fallout.

The Outsiders prevented then from causing a meltdown at Esperanza Canyon
Nuclear Power Plant, and captured the entire Nuclear Family. After examining
the robots, Dr. Jace decides that Looker should infiltrate the group, using
her powers to disguise herself as Mom. The Nuclear Family is released so they
can lead the Outsiders to Shanner, but Looker is eventually discovered before
she can tell the Outsiders where Shanner's HQ is.

We then learn that the Nuclear Family are replications of Shanner's family,
all of whom (but him) died from radiation poisoning. We're led to believe
that Shanner was once upon a time either Dad or Biff. Anyway, the Nuclear
Family hunts down the real Mom, whom the Outsiders are still holding captive.
After a struggle, the Family grabs Mom, and heads to Esperanza Canyon to
finish their mission. The Outsiders follow them, and ultimately, the entire
Nuclear Family is destroyed in an explosion. Metamorpho turns into TNT and blows them
up while they are trying to start a meltdown. Shanner, however, is still alive.

Duke of Oil - appeared in OUTSIDERS (1st series) #6, #7 and ADVENTURES OF THE
OUTSIDERS #44, #45. His
appearance in AOTO is a reprint of his appearance in Outsiders. "Nothing Can
Stop the Duke of Oil" reads the cover to OUTSIDERS #7. Well, not exactly.

Earl J. Dukeston is an oil baron from Texas and the owner of Dukeston Oil.
His company wants to see Station Markovia, an automated ocean research
station off the coast of Los Angeles which also serves as the Outsiders HQ.
After Brion Markov (Geo Force) and Dr. Jace have given him a tour of the
station, Dukeston attacks the two, and it is revealed that he is an agent of
an unknown scientific company that wants to steal Dr. Jace's research.

The Duke reveals that 20 years ago, he was caught in an explosion at his oil
company. Thinking he would die, he woke up later and found that all that was
left of him after the explosion (his brain) was put into a robotic body. Kind
of like the Golden Age Robotman, huh? Well, the scientists who did this to
Dukeston told him that they were growing another body for him using cloning
technology, but it would take about twenty years to do so. In the meantime,
the Duke did their bidding. Ultimately, when the Duke confronts the rest of
the Outsiders, looker discovers that he is emitting no brain waves, Katana
then throws her sword into his robotic head, and we learn that the Duke
doesn't have a human brain after all, he's just a machine programmed with
Dukeston's memories.

Finding out that he's not even partly human drives the malfunctioning Duke of
Oil nuts, and he escapes into the Pacific Ocean below. The Outsiders search
for him, but can't find a body. He remains currently at large.

The Duke is superstrong, and can stretch his neck, arms and legs like
Elongated Man can. He wears fake skin in order to conceal his robotic
appearance, but it is easily burned off or destroyed.

And for some really obscure villains, check out the early issues of BATMAN AND THE
OUTSIDERS.

There's the lame-o Agent Orange (BATO #3), a disgruntled Vietnam vet who wants to
drop toxic gas on Gotham. He wears an orange gasmask, orange beret, orange fatigues and shoots
toxic gas out of a flame-thrower type weapon. He's apprehended in BATO #3 and thankfully
hasn't seen the light of day yet.

In BATO #4, Ned Creegan returns with a new name and a new costume. Creegan was transformed
into a sketetal freak in BATMAN #195 way way back, and tried to kill Batman and Robin using
the name Bag O'Bones. Creegan returns in BLACK LIGHTNING (1st series) #4-5 as the
Cyclotronic Man. This time he wears an all green costume and goes after Black Lightning
and Superman.

Third times a charm in BATO #4, when Creegan, now calling himself One Man Meltdown,
escapes from prison because a crooked warden won't give him the radiation treatments his
suped up body requires. After a misunderstanding or two, the Outsiders help Creegan get the
treatments he needs and he goes back to prison, content to serve out his time and become a
benefit to society.

Creegan can fire energy bolts, speed up the atoms of anything (including his own body),
and is superstrong. The aura around his body can also melt most objects it come sin contact
with.

In BATO #6, we meet the Cyronic Man for the first and last time. More on him later.

The Ghost Who WalksMember

posted May 11, 2000 05:06 AM

In an old Swedish edition of SUPERBOY, I found a story starring a character called Tracy,
a teenage girl on a scooter, who ends up in a Scooby Doo type of adventure.

Does any of you know more about this character?

JDWMember

posted May 12, 2000 12:08 AM

I asked this in another thread, and didn't get an answer, so here goes.

There was a group of normal people who were given powers by the Guardians.
They were supposed to represent, or faciliate, mankind's evolution to the next level. Their
story was one of DC's global events. I vaguely recall one people going bad, one being killed.
Anyway, does anyone know this group, and what happened to them?

Shaggy FaustMember

posted May 12, 2000 12:32 AM

In response to Larry F's query as to which Super Friends' characters appeared
in any DC comics:

As far as I know, neither Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, El Dorado, nor Samurai
ever appeared in a DC comic.

Why?

Well, while the main characters comprising The Super Friends were obviously
licensed by Hanna-Barbera from DC, the aforementioned characters were created
by HB for the cartoon, i.e. these are characters owned by Hanna-Barbera. If
were to include them in a comic book, they, in turn, would have to license
these characters from HB. You dig where I'm goin' with this? Basically, these
weren't/aren't DC characters proper....

As for Rima - well, DC did license a character called "Rima the Jungle
Girl" for a brief period in the early seventies, but I don't think she
had anything to do with the Superfriends. Perhaps you're thinking of the
Super Friends villainess Giganta, who, like Black Vulcan, et al., was a
creation of Hanna-Barbera studios. And no - she never made a pulp appearance
of which I am aware....

Wait a minute!!!! I may be wrong, 'cause didn't Samurai appear in a SUPER
POWERS mini-series?

Hell, shows you what I know....

superboymddjrMember

posted May 12, 2000 01:12 AM

Hmm, anyone heard of a team called Bat Squad?

Say, exactly how many Aqua-Girls were there before Tula? I heard that there were a
couple of girls before Tula, is that true?

HellstoneMember

posted May 12, 2000 05:42 AM

Adding to the list.

46. Black Vulcan
47. Apache Chief
48. Rima
49. El Dorado
50. Samurai

--guess they've been answered by now

51. Agent Orange
52. One Man Meltdown

--thank you for the info, D.R. Especially the latter would be fun to see
revived. And I'm waiting for the story about the Cyronic Man.

53. Tracy on her scooter

--can anyone help Ghost Who Walks with this one? I've never heard of her.

54. New Guardians

--JDW, I guess these are the heroes you meant. They were introduced in the
MILLENNIUM crossover (1987 or 88?) and had their own series for a year or so.
Really crappy if I remember it right. They later appeared in GREEN LANTERN
and were killed by Entropy. Then they were alive again and settled down on
Oa. It's not known what happened to them after the planet was destroyed
following Zero Hour. The only members that are known to still be alive are
Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku and Jason "the Floronic Man" Woodrue (the latter was last seen
in STARMAN).

55. Bat Squad

--Not sure who these are. Except that the current allies of Batman (Robin,
Nightwing, Huntress, Azrael, Gordon, are sometimes referred to as the "Bat Squad).

56. Aquagirl I

--Lisa Morel. America heroine-wannabee who appeared in ADVENTURE COMICS #266.

--Tula, Poseidonian heroine, well-known partner of Aqualad and a
sometimes-member of the Teen Titans. Died in the Crisis. (Killed by Chemo and
Shark Norton.) First appeared in AQUAMAN (1st series) #33 (Jun 67).

/ola

casselmm47Member

posted May 12, 2000 07:22 AM

The Bat Squad teamed up with Batman in an issue of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (#92),
I think they were just a group of detectives (no 'big names' in the bunch).

Rich MorrisseyMember

posted May 12, 2000 08:16 AM

The character The Ghost Who Walks refers to is probably Tracey Thompson,
created by writer/artist/editor Mike Sekowsky as a backup for ADVENTURE
COMICS...I believe #401 was the first of her two or so appearances. She was,
as he recalls, a teenage motorcyclist who was always running into trouble and
usually had to have someone else help her out. The readership was thoroughly
underwhelmed, and she failed to survive Sekowsky's very short editorship.

The Deep Six were among the many evil gods of Apokolips created by
writer/artist/editor Jack Kirby for his legendary NEW GODS series. First
mentioned in NEW GODS #2, they played an active role in issues #4 through 6,
in the last of which they were apparently killed off. But they've appeared
more recently in other DC titles; I don't recall how their survival was
explained (perhaps Darkseid teleported them all out at the last minute).

HellstoneMember

posted May 12, 2000 08:46 AM

Thing is, having checked various sources, I have encountered the following
names of Deep Six members: Gole, Jaffar, Kurin, Pyron, Slig, Trok, and
Shaligo the Flying Finback. Have the Deep Six become the Deep Seven?

/ola

D. R. BlackMember

posted May 12, 2000 11:30 AM

Here we go with the Cryonic Man (I mis-spelled his name last time, sorry)

The Cryonic Man - appeared in BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #6 and #7 - In 1947,
Professor Niles Raymond (wonder if he's any relation to Ronnie (Firestorm)
Raymond?) built four cryonic sleep chambers because he feared a world wide
nuclear holocaust. Niles, his wife Bella, his assistant Philip, and Philip's
wife Melissa entered the chambers and slept for years. In order to monitor
the state of the world and maintain their equipment, Philip was selected to
awaken every so often.

During one of the times he was awake, Philip discovered that his wife Melissa was slowly
dying of a progressive degenerative disease (exactly what disease is never stated). Only
complex organ transplants could save Melissa's life should she ever leave the
cryonic chamber. Philip reasoned that the needed transplant technology would
be developed in the near future, so in order to keep Melissa in the chamber
he lied to Niles and Bella - telling them that there had been a horrible
nuclear war which devastated the world. In the meantime, Philip began
illegally gathering organs and transplanting them into Melissa's body.
Sometimes, Philip even used Niles' and Bella's bodies as "spare parts" as his
own body withered with age.

Waking up in 1983 (when BATO #6 was written), Philip makes himself a costume comprised of
blue tights, metallic gloves, a blue hard hat type thing, and a metallic mask
which covers all of his face except his eyes. He also develops a backpack
type machine which allows him to shoot liquid nitrogen out of hoses attached
to the wrists of his costume. Dubbing himself the Cryonic Man, Philip goes
about stealing organs from local hospitals in Gotham. This eventually brings
him into conflict with Batman and the Outsiders.

While stealing a kidney from Gotham General Hospital, the Outsiders confront Philip, and
chase him into one of Gotham's underground car tunnels. The Cryonic Man gets the best
of the Outsiders this time, and escapes with the kidney and Katana as his hostage.
Philip plans on using Katana as the source for all the other body parts
Melissa needs. With the help of Soultaker (Katana's sword), the Outsiders
track Philip to an underground bunker in an abandoned house just outside of
Gotham. The usual heroics transpire, but there's a real cool James Bond-esque
scene where a bound and almost sedated Katana frees herself and destroys one
of the Cryonics Man's robots using only a tiny surgeon scalpel.

Eventually, the Outsiders discover the other three cryonic chambers and the people
inside. Black Lightning is able to use his powers to "communicate" with them using the
cryonic chamber's electric field. When Bella, Niles, and Melisa discover the
truth, they become enraged and overload the chambers' electric field. This
unleashes a backlash of electric energy which strikes Philip, either killing
him or just knocking him out (we're never told, we just see smoke rising from
the Cryonic Man's fallen body). The overload however, does cause the deaths
of Bella, Niles, and Melisa.

Says Batman: "Their souls died long ago....when they decided to run from the world
instead of facing it!"

MikishawmMember

posted May 12, 2000 11:45 PM

Hi, all! This is what I came up with:

The Assassination Bureau was a well kept secret until they were hired by the
2000 Committee to kill Firestorm. The organization had been formed by
Breathtaker, a mysterious figure hidden beneath a robe and cloak. The Nuclear
Man easily defeated the Bureau's first operative, the wind-controlling
Stratos, but Firestorm was far more susceptible to the illusions of the
Mindboggler. While attacking what he perceived as threats, Firestorm was
actually posing a threat to civilians. Mindboggler was unable to bring her
actions to a conclusion thanks to the arrival of fleet of police officers,
more than the spellbinder felt she could control (FURY OF FIRESTORM # 29-30).

Meanwhile, another Bureau member had disobeyed orders and tried to take down Firestorm on
his own. The arrogant Incognito was a being capable of transforming into a double of
anyone but whose natural form was a black silhouette. Failing in his
objective, Incognito was subdued by Firestorm and revealed the location of
the Bureau's lair (FOF # 30).

The Nuclear Man succeeded in knocking Mindboggler unconscious and quickly defeated
Breathtaker, despite the latter's own seeming hallucinogenic powers. Exposed, the mastermind
was a small man -- barely four feet -- with skin so pale and tight that he
resembled a skeleton. His more imposing form was the result of a
sophisticated exoskeleton. Resentful of Breathtaker's treatment of her,
Mindboggler agreed to help Firestorm take down the 2000 Committee (FOF # 31).

Mindboggler received a lenient sentence for her actions but was lured back into crime by
Multiplex, who convinced her to join his anti-Firestorm league (FOF # 45-47; BLUE DEVIL
# 23). In custody once more, she was released into the Suicide Squad but was
shot in the back and killed by the Jihad's Rustam (SUICIDE SQUAD # 1-2).

Through unknown circumstances, the Jihad used Mindboggler's brain patterns to form a
deadly electronic intelligence called the Ifrit that was programmed to destroy the
Suicide Squad. The Squad took possession of the Ifrit (SS # 17-19) and, after
extensive efforts, to reprogram her (# 26), succeeded in restoring her core
personality thanks to an Israeli artificial intelligence known as the Dybbuk.
The Dybbuk (now calling himself Lenny) and Mindboggler (Leah Wasserman)
announced their plans to wed (# 63).

Oracle, a witness to the declaration, offered to host a bridal shower. "Is there any
software you guys need ?"

In the distant past, a race of tiny people known as the Elvarans fled the savage
cavemen of the outer world for sanctuary within caverns within the Earth. The Elvarans
periodically sent armor-clad warriors into the outer world atop bats to keep
abreast of the Earth's evolution. With a racial hatred of "tall men," an
Elvaran tribe in Ivy Town's Giants Cavern went berserk when it saw gangster
Eddie Gordon in the cave. Firing his gun, Gordon unwittingly gained temporary
control of the little people, thanks to the noise's effect on their motor
responses. Gordon decided to use the Bat-Knights as a means of looting the
city -- and destroying his enemy, the Atom. The Atom managed to capture a
lone Bat-Knight and convince him of his good intentions. Together, they freed
the Bat-Knights from Gordon's control and the Tiny Titan was given the unique
honor of being able to visit the people of Elvara "by giving the pre-arranged
signal" (ATOM # 22).

Gordon briefly regained control of the Bat-Knights in THE ATOM # 30. Ray Palmer
encountered the little people for a third time when he and Jean Loring
visited Giants Cavern, also the location where he first became the Atom,
during a honeymoon trip.

Marauding Bat-Knights claimed that the Elvarans now had more militant
leadership and that they sought the secret of the Atom's size-control belt to
conquer the outside world. Ray made a narrow escape and resealed the
"doorway" out of the cavern (ACTION COMICS # 487).

In 1958, the Challengers of the Unknown traced a series of thefts by men dressed as ancient
Greeks or Egyptians to a mysterious island, home to the Wizard of Time, one Darius
Tiko. "Former assistant to Dr. Hobart Reinmetz, the renowned nuclear
physicist," Tiko claimed to have brought his research to full flower with the
creation of a Time Cube. Ace suggested he may have stolen Reinmetz's ideas
instead.

Tiko fled the inquiries via the Cube and the Challs followed in a smaller earlier model.
After trailing the Wizard through a succession of eras, the quartet finally tracked
him down in the year 3000 A.D. There, both Tiko and the Challs were taken
into custody by law enforcement of the era and ordered to return home. A
self-destruct mechanism installed by the future cops destroyed the Time Cube
and the Wizard's island upon their return to 1958 (CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN
(first series) # 4, reprinted in SUPER DC GIANT # S-25).

En route to the past, Tiko had briefly escaped into 1994, where, armed with futuristic
technology, he terrorized Metropolis for a few hours before the Challs and a certain Man
of Steel recaptured him and completed their journey home (ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN # 508).

First seen briefly in 1971's NEW GODS # 2, the Deep Six first left their mark when
they killed the ocean-loving New God known as Seagrin (# 4). In # 4 and 5, Orion battled and
ultimately killed Slig, whose touch could alternately mutate or disintegrate
a victim. Issue # 6 introduced Jaffar (also in possession of a death-touch
and also slain by Orion), Gole, Pyron, the axe-wielding Trok and the winged
Shaligo. The remainder of the Deep Six was destroyed in a fiery conflagration.

A resurrected Jaffar and Slig returned in NEW GODS # 13 (1977) and, once more, Slig died at
Orion's hands. In the Deep Six entry in WHO'S WHO '85 # 6, Pyron was misidentified as
Kurin.

Aside from a one-panel cameo in NEW GODS (1989 series) # 17, the group didn't return until
1995's AQUAMAN # 6-8, wherein Peter David finally explained the aquatic marauders'
durability. At one point, Trok ejected something from his chest that Slig
describeed as "spawns of ourselves. It's how we perpetuate. Our forebears
were slaughtered by the mad dog Orion ... but not before we were spawned into
a chamber similar to this. We are the first Deep Six to grow in this world.
Hence we're very attuned to it."

The sextet has subsequently appeared along with the other Apokolips baddies in UNLIMITED
ACCESS # 2-4 (1998). Just recently, they showed up in SUPERMEN OF AMERICA # 2, where Shaligo
failed to appear but the heretofore non-existent Kurin DID! Yikes!

The Legion of Super-Heroes first encountered the Luck Lords on the planet Thaun,
exposing them as aliens who used scientific trickery to terrorize the world into a
superstitious frenzy (ADVENTURE COMICS # 343). The true Luck Lords were from
Ventura, immortal mystics garbed in green robes with a single large eyeball
representing their head (LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (1984 series) # 44-45). As
explained in WHO'S WHO IN THE LEGION # 4, they "gather the power of chaotic
chance against the constant scientific power" for their own purposes.

In current continuity, the power level of the Luck Lords is unknown but they are much more
commonly known and accessible to the public, based on brief appearances in LSH
(current series) # 100, 102 and LEGIONNAIRES # 70.

Nationalistic scientist Harold Melrose launched his Power Elite project with the
intention of creating a group of "real red-blooded American heroes." The Stellaron-5 satellite
would focus a concentrated beam of solar radiation on a sextet of individuals and,
hopefully, transform them into metahumans. Instead, a chance interception
with "space junk" destroyed the satellite and redirected the bulk of its
energy towards Colorado, where a man named Will Payton took the full force of
the beam -- and was transformed into Starman (STARMAN (first series) # 1).

Though deprived of the full-effects of the solar energy, the six men and women still gained
unique powers and abilities. The Power Elite included Dennis Blake (emits concussion
blasts), Frank Donovan (fires plasma flame from his hands), Stanley Hale
(levitates himself and objects around him), Olivia Hardy (super-strength),
Samantha Morgan (capable of altering her mass and appearance to anything from
a little girl to a hulking giant) and David Winters (emits radiation bolts
from his eyes). Melrose soon determined that the new hero known as Starman
must have received the powers that were meant for his team and plans were put
into motion to capture him (# 2-3).

Ambushed by the Power Elite, Starman was indeed taken captive (# 4) but an alien invasion
disrupted the plot. A Durlan spy within Melrose's inner circle discovered that their
captive was nothing less than "a living star" and smuggled Starman to the
armada. The scheme collapsed when the Durlan was captured by Melrose's
security forces and Starman escaped his alien jailers (# 5).

David Winters convinced Melrose to drug the Durlan and unleash him in Salt Lake City, thus
providing the team with a flamboyant foe to defeat in their first public appearance.
Aware that some of the team might object (notably Frank, Stan and Olivia),
the Elite was officially told that the Durlan had escaped.

Viewing news coverage of the Durlan's recapture, Starman headed for Utah, intent on a
rematch with the Elite, but once again, fate intervened. In the midst of the battle, a
Dominion Gene Bomb was detonated and the Power Elite was rendered comatose (#
6; INVASION! # 3). Melrose spirited the sextet back to his base, the
Hutchings Institute (# 7), but eventually realized that, while the group
could be revived with concentrated solar energy, he couldn't generate with
his own equipment. He needed Starman.

A suspicious Starman was contacted and convinced that the Melrose and Elite that he fought
had been either Durlans or dupes. The energy that Payton funnelled into the sextet
revived the team but Winters refused to leave the energizer, determined to
absorb all the power he could get. Instead, his body exploded as Starman
escaped from the power-siphon (# 11).

A full-scale battle ensued that took another life when Dennis Blake's concussion blasts
brought down the ceiling on him. Frank Donovan finally realized the full extent of
Melrose's evil and turned him over to the authorities before returning to the
collapsing Hutchings Institute. Reduced to a crater, the site yielded only
one body, that of Dennis Blake. The whereabouts of Frank, Stan, Olivia and
Samantha remain unknown (# 12). Melrose eventually allied himself with an
even more paranoid fringe group (# 19-20), who gunned him down when his
vendetta against Starman wrecked their plans (# 29).

When Star City's newspaper, the Daily Star, was threatened with a buyout by media giant
Morris Burdick, a demonic entity known as the Printer's Devil appeared on the
premises. Dressed in a red and black costume with a blue cape, he came
complete with a ram's head mask and large red eyes -- and a trident that
fired flame darts. Green Arrow ultimately unmasked him as Tommy Doyle, a
sports writer at the paper. Doyle hoped that Burdick would think twice about
buying a media outlet under siege -- and he was right. Burdick abandoned his
plans to buy the Star ... and Tommy went to jail(DETECTIVE # 539-540).

A few months later, Doyle (out on bail) came face to face with the Printer's Devil. His
successor had forced Tommy to provide him with a spare costume and weapon, which he used to
initiate an attack at the Star City World's Fair. The new Devil "lost a
printing contract here when the Fair passed my 'hot type' machines by for
faster 'cold type' ones" and he joined others "ruined" by the Fair
(Pinball Wizard and Bad Penny) in seeking revenge. The inexperienced
Printer's Devil was quickly wrapped in one of GA's bola arrows and left hanging
(DETECTIVE # 543-544) while the rest of the troupe was brought to justice (# 545).

The members of the Bat-Squad were three British citizens who joined forces to help
Batman in BRAVE & BOLD # 92. They were Major Dabney, Margo Cantrell and Mick Murdock.

Rima wasn't created by DC but she wasn't technically licensed either. She was a
public domain character from William Henry Hudson's 1904 novel, "Green Mansions." And, yes,
Rima did appear in some epidodes of the SUPER FRIENDS cartoon (even though she was actually
based in the early 20th Century).

Samurai showed up in DC's third SUPER POWERS mini-series, four issues that appeared
in 1986. History professor Toshio Eto was transformed into Samurai (and archaeologist Ashley
Halberstam into the Golden Pharaoh) thanks to a super-hero project initiated on New Genesis
designed to create an opposition force to prevent Darkseid's return to Apokolips.

Shock Headed PeterMember

posted May 14, 2000 01:27 PM

I require information on one crappy villain.

SNAFU.

Please.

MikishawmMember

posted May 14, 2000 07:18 PM

Created by Bob Rozakis, Snafu's name was based on a paraphrase of the wartime
expression "Situation Normal, All Fouled Up." He was one Bartholomew Higgins,
a man garbed in a garish costume and an assortment of lights and noise-making
mechanisms, all designed to disorient his victims. He picked crowded areas
like shopping centers and stadiums as his ideal targets. Man-Bat defeated him
in one of his first cases in New York City by drowning out the sound effects
with his bat-cry and closing his eyes to the lights, using his sonar to
follow him (BATMAN FAMILY # 11, 1977).

On a return engagement, Snafu tried to counter Man-Bat's sonar with
technological enhancements but Kirk Langstrom's acute hearing came through
and Higgins was defeated again (BATMAN FAMILY # 18-19, 1978).

Rozakis brought back Snafu for a final outing in HERO HOTLINE # 3 (1989), complete with a
redesigned look by Stephen DeStefano and computer enhanced color effects. This time, the
villain was defeated when Voice-Over threw Snafu's sound effects back at him.

I'll leave Thriller for someone else. Don't have all the issues.

Tenzel KimMember

posted May 15, 2000 07:40 AM

Hi there.

Just wanted you all to know that I haven't forgotten you. I've just been without my PC
for almost 3 weeks now and I'm not sure when I'm gonna get it back as there are still some
problems with my DVD drive.

Anyway, I'll be looking forward to joining this thread and joining the fun as soon as I get
back online (this is written at work)

See ya.

HellstoneMember

posted May 15, 2000 09:40 AM

Hi Tenz. You know you're always welcome here.

This list grows and shrinks all the time. A few unanswered questions:

16. SR 12: I still don't know who this is - only heard his/her/its "names" somewhere. I
think it is an alien from the Silver Age. A Green Lantern, maybe?
17. Teutonic Knight?
41. The Luck League: thanks for the Luck Lords info, Mikishawm, but those
were not the ones I meant. The Luck League was another Silver Age villain
group. JLA baddies, maybe? I'm not sure.
59. Snafu: sounds like a great villain. I'm all for his return.
60. Thriller: I know she was a Robert Loren Fleming / Trevor von Eeden
character in a monthly from the early 80s, but not much more. Can anyone fill
us in here?

I didn't think this would happen but I'm actually running out of characters that I'm
wondering about. However, I was able to squeeze out ten more. Anyone up for the challenge?

61. the Arcana (JLI baddies)
62. the Argent (the government team led by Control of the O.S.S. Members?
Were they created by John Ostrander or did they exist before the Suicide Squad?)
63. Armstrong of the Army (golden age)
64. Bob Colby & Jim Boone (banes of the Faceless Hunter)
65. the Dead Detective (?)
66. the Endless One (timestream guardian from JLofA)
67. Fireman Farell & the Firefighters (Showcase)
68. Silver Fog (the Harlan Ellson villain from "Dial H for Hero")
69. Sky Dogs (?)
70. Wayne Clifford (All-Out War)

/ola

krisstacksMember

posted May 15, 2000 10:47 AM

Since no one else has asked..As a wee lad I was one of a dozen or so people
who read the JEMM, SON OF SATURN maxi series. Or almost. For some reason I
stopped at issue 8. Can anyone give me the basic jist of the series and how it
ended? If not I understand but thanks in advance anyway.

MikishawmMember

posted May 19, 2000 10:07 PM

Created by Todd Klein and illustrated by Mike Chen and Joe Del Beato, "Arcana"
centered around the Perrys, an eccentric family of mystics in a New Jersey
suburb (NEW TALENT SHOWCASE # 12). They included the elderly Oren and Thalia,
middle-aged Whelan the Magnificent (with the traditional tuxedo and
razor-thin mustache), young Anastasia (or Nasti) and the family dog, Barkis,
a sheep dog-esque creature that fired red force bolts from his eyes. In the
first story, young Tom Hawthorne, visiting his grandparents for the summer,
entered the Perry property on a dare and was given a tour by Nasti. It was
hinted that Tom's grandfather (his namesake) had dealings with the Perrys in
his youth and, indeed, he was quite interested in his grandson's visit when
young Tom returned home.

Peering through the window, Thalia wondered, "Is he
the one, Oren ? The one to release us from our long exile ?"

"Only time will tell, sister ... but I certainly hope so."

The creation of Gerard Jones, the Arcana were mysterious power-brokers who loved to
manipulate the major players of the world. Card terminology was abundant but no connection
with the Royal Flush Gang was ever established.

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA # 94 found Maxwell Lord hospitalized, diagnosed with a swiftly-
growing malignancy attached to his cerebrum. "With proper treatment," a doctor tells
him, "we should be able to keep you alive, perhaps until the malignancy can be stopped.
But...you won't have a mind anymore." Elsewhere, listening via a wiretap, a man places a
phone call: "Queen. This is Nine. We may need to find a new Three."

Soon after, a cloaked figure (later revealed as the Kilg%re) materializes in Max's hospital
room, offering "a way for your consciousness, for your will, to survive." As Fire reaches
the hospital, she learns that Max has just died (JLA # 95) and Leaguers past
and present turn out for the funeral.

Elsewhere, Max is revealed to have been a member of the Arcana (# 96), having joined soon
after the events of JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL # 11-12 (see JUSTICE LEAGUE
AMERICA ANNUAL # 9). The Arcana moves quickly to induce Blue Devil to join
the JLA, thus becoming their new set of eyes in the League (# 97-98).

Kilg%re finds an appropriate vessel for Max's mind in # 98, revealed (to the reader but not
the League) in issue # 100 to be the body of Lord Havok. As Havok, Lord moves
todestroy the Arcana. Arriving in human fo rm at their headquarters,
Lord/Havok announces that "Maxwell Lord always does things his own way. Just
like I'm taking over the Arcana...my own way" (JLA # 111). Alerted by Havok
that the League is headed their way, the Arcana begs him to save them. Havok
responds by having his agent (the brother of the man killed at the U.N. back
in JUSTICE LEAGUE # 1) blow up the group and its headquarters. "I think we'll
have no more opposition from the Arcana," says Havok. "It will be ours to
use. The aces are no longer high. There's a joker in the deck...and the
Joker's wild"(# 113).

Arriving on the scene, the League finds no sign of life but Flash spots "the source of the
signal! And it's marked ... Lord Enterprises ?!"

Argent, the successor to the O.S.S., was created in 1951 and partially made
up of members of that organization, including Falcon, Fleur, "Iron"
Munro, Phantom Lady I, and a woman resembling Dina, the deceased wife of O.S.S.'s
leader, Control. Argent was the civilian branch of Task Force X I, intended
to deal with metahuman threats once handled by the recently-disbanded Justice
Society. The original Suicide Squad covered international situations (SECRET
ORIGINS # 14).

After confronting and arranging the murder of a government official indirectly responsible
for the assassination of President Kennedy, Control ordered all records of Argent
destroyed and pulled the organization deeply undercover. Following Control's
death, his granddaughter began operating in his name, fearing that news of
his demise would damage the group's already dwindling membership. With only
six members left, the group retired after a confrontation with the third
incarnation of the Suicide Squad (SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL # 1).

Affiliated with United States Intelligence, Armstrong of the Army spent the final
months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor capturing saboteurs and tracking down new
scientific discoveries that could be adapted for military purposes. He was in
STAR SPANGLED COMICS # 1-6, the first five episodes of which were illustrated
by Ed Moore, blessed with a simple, clean art style influenced by Roy Crane.

Highway patrolmen Bob Colby and Jim Boone helped the alien manhunter Klee Pan
thwart the Faceless Creature From Saturn on three occasions between 1960 and 1963 (STRANGE
ADVENTURES # 124, 142 and 153) and were rewarded with telepathic powers that they chose to
conceal for future strategic value.

The creation of John Ostrander and William Messner-Loebs, Croak McCraw, the Dead
Detective, was a corpse with a bullet in the center of his forehead and eyes wide open,
still seated at a desk in his office. He delivered an internal monologue in his
head even as all manner of bizarre events took place around him. By the end
of the third installment, the Earth had been destroyed and McCraw was
floating amidst the debris. In the finale, McCraw was escorted into Heaven
and slapped into a seat next to Santa Claus. This weirdness can be found in
1988 and 1989's WASTELAND # 8, 12, 17 and 18.

Fred Farrell, Jr. was the son of a famed Center City firefighter. Fred, Sr. had
died (apparently of smoke inhalation) when his son was a boy and the youngster vowed to
honor his father in his chosen profession. Joining the Center City Fire Department in
1956, young Fred was quickly regarded as a heroic figure in the mold of his
father (SHOWCASE # 1, by Arnold Drake and John Prentice). Fireman Farrell
showed up again briefly in 1978 on two occasions (SHOWCASE # 100 and BATMAN #
305) and returned for another cameo in CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS # 7. In
current DCU history, Fred is part of the Metropolis Fire Department (ACTION #
693 and BATMAN & SUPERMAN: WORLD'S FINEST # 4).

In the first issue of Gerry Conway's ongoing run of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (# 151,
in 1978), Amos Fortune captured Wonder Woman and used her magic-based powers with his
"Wheel of Misfortune" to influence the lives of the seven luckiest people on
Earth, all born on the seventh day of the seventh month in different years
(presumably ending in seven). The end result was the creation of seven
super-beings, all of whom gained their power at the expense of individual
Justice Leaguers, and were immediately forced into villainy at Fortune's
command. The Justice League seemed destined for defeat until Wonder Woman's
hypnotic powers coerced Fortune into freeing her, tipping the balance of luck
back to the good.

The Luck League included the Acrobat (powers stolen from Batman), Cyclone (Red
Tornado), the Crier (Black Canary), the Racer a.k.a. Lord Arthur Arthurson (the Flash),
the Shrinking Man (the Atom), Strongman (Superman) and Water King (Aquaman).

Created by 46-year-old Harlan Ellison of Sherman Oaks, CA, the Silver Fog was one
of the earliest villains to appear in Marv Wolfman and Carmine Infantino's 1980 "Dial 'H'
For Hero" revival. Basically, Sam Toth was a scientist who tested a particle
accelerator on himself and transformed himself into ... a silver fog. With
great effort, he could regain solid form but he was quickly beginning to fade
away. Toth turned to crime to find a cure, a development that brought him
into contact with Chris King (as Captain Electron), whose energy powers
unwittingly cured the grateful Toth (ADVENTURE COMICS # 479).

Toth's assistant, Edward Arling, later used the same technology to become the second
Silver Fog but quickly became disgusted with life as a super-villain when he found
himself in competition with the Gentleman Ghost and I.Q. and opposed by the Teen
Titans (NEW TEEN TITANS (second series) # 40).

Arling's son, Nelson, adapted the concept for himself, creating a being of living fog that
was manipulated by a control box. The third Silver Fog was defeated by Impulse
(IMPULSE # 51).

L.B. Kellogg and Tom Mandrake's Sky Dogs were led by Captain Geoffrey Hawke,
Mullah Ka Kwaja and Ndemba, pirates who travelled aboard a flying ship called the Moonjammer
and preyed on brigands who looted the innocent. The secret of the craft's flight
came from the magician Mullah Ka Kwaja. Princess Zelaleddin launched the Sky
Dogs on a quest for the Seven Jewels of Power, which were also sought by the
infamous Captain Kidd. Waiting in the wings for one of the pirates to collect
all seven gems was the evil sorcerer Melin (NEW TALENT SHOWCASE # 1 and 2).

Fifty years in the future, an accident integrated the bodies of Angeline Marietta
Salvotini Thriller and her husband, Edward. According to WHO'S WHO '87 # 23, she
"gained the power to become part of any inanimate object and control it. She
can cause her face to appear on an object, or in the sky. The only living
beings she can become part of are her twin brother Tony and the artificially
created Beaker Parish. Angeline can take mental control of Tony's body and
transform it into a duplicate of her original body. " She "can also see
glimpses of possible future events."

THRILLER was created by Robert Loren Fleming and Trevor Von Eedon, who produced the first
seven issues before the series was abruptly handed over to Bill DuBay and Alex
Nino. They remained on the book until it ended with # 12.

Created by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Mike Sekowsky, the Timeless Ones were
benevolent blue-skinned immortals who freed Earth from the rule of Abnegazar, Rath and Ghast
"close to a billion years ago" and imprisoned the Three Demons in unique prisons
(JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 10). The Timeless Ones existed in the 30th
Century as wraiths on the planet Gendyx, where they had become "too far
removed from humanity to understand -- or care" about the plight of mortals
(SUPERBOY & THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES # 233).

Cary Burkett and Jerry Grandenetti's Wayne Clifford (of "Dateline: Frontline") was
an American war correspondent whose adventures took place in a variety of venues over the
course of 1940-1942 (MEN OF WAR # 4-6, 9-11, 21-23 and UNKNOWN SOLDIER #
243-245 and 254-256). In his final appearance, Clifford was forced to endure
the horror of the Bataan Death March, escaping with his life thanks to a
handful of soldiers.

HellstoneMember

posted May 23, 2000 12:33 PM

Thank you, Mikishawmn. You keep spoiling me, and I keep demanding.

Seriously, It's getting harder to think of characters I want to know more about. However,
I'll try to make it an even 100 (that is, if anyone still wants to do this).

Here are the next ten:

71. Bob the Galactic Bum? (I know it's some sort of Lobo spinoff, but what's the story?)
72. Doctor Seven?
73. Fargo Kid?
74. Gadgeteer?
75. The Green Glob? (I know roughly what this was, but some more info would be great)
76. The Knights of the Galaxy? (these ones I know, but I wonder whether there were more
recurring members than Artho, Ora, and Lyle?)
77. The Planeteers? (see above - just want to know a little about Tommy Tomorrow's team
members)
78. Legion of the Weird?
79. Lightning Master?
80. Master Electrician?

Just twenty more. Then I'll be satisfied.

/ola

John MooresMember

posted May 23, 2000 01:29 PM

I'm back in for a round!:

Gadgeteer was a [Commander] Steel foe from the 70s, but I'm going to do....

The Lightning Master!

Dressed in a green robe and hood, LM first appeared in SUPERMAN #14, Jan/Feb. 1942. He was
a typical mad scientist (and bald, to boot!) who had an extortion plot going (He wanted
$300,000(!)). As these things must go, he captures Lois but is confronted by
Superman, who electrocutes him!!

LM has no powers, but a lightning machine and a lightning bolt gun. No real name is
given.

In ALL-STAR SQUADRON ANNUAL #2, 1983; LM is revealed to be alive, Supes having only
shocked him into unconsciousness, (though he was clearly meant to have been killed in the
original story) and is one of Ian Karkull's goons, out to kill a future U.S. President.
This time, Supes and Johnny Thunder thwart him.

Lightning Master hasn't been seen again, I think, but is mentioned around ALL-STAR
SQUADRON #52 as being in jail. Hope this helps.

I don't have time to cover everyone yet but I thought I'd check in with a
couple:

The Fargo Kid was Tim Turner, who operated in the 1940s and rode a horse
named King. He was in FEATURE COMICS # 47-63 (1941-1942).

Based on the Knights of the Galaxy stories that I've read, Artho, Ora and Lyle were
the only members named. The group was in MYSTERY IN SPACE # 1-8, the last three episodes of
which were reprinted in PULP FICTION LIBRARY: MYSTERY IN SPACE, DC
SUPER-STARS # 2 and JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 85, respectively.

The Knights were mentioned in TWILIGHT # 1, no longer a part of DC continuity, and popped
up in that great issue of STARMAN (# 55) that appeared last year.

The Green Glob was an invisible cloud of energy that singled out individuals for
strange experiences. Sometimes the people were granted temporary powers, other times
thrust into other times or dimensions. The Glob appeared in TALES OF THE
UNEXPECTED # 83-98, 100, 102 and 103 (1964-1967). George Roussos drew every
episode but the last, which was by Bernard Baily.

Phil Foglio's 1991 ANGEL AND THE APE mini-series provided the Glob's origin: It was created
by the Guardians of the Universe and "capable of warping the very nature of
reality ... in order to teach a lesson." The Glob fell into the hands of
Gorilla Grodd (# 3) but, with the aid of Sam Simeon, the entity was freed,
proclaiming repeatedly that "I have transcended my programming!" (# 4)

In the admitted handful of Tommy Tomorrow stories that I've read, Brent Wood was the only
regular among the Planeteers. The SHOWCASE series (# 41, 42, 44, 46, 47) set in
Tommy's early days with the force paired him up with the blue-skinned
Venusian Lon Vurian, whose father was Commander of Venus' Planeteers.

The Master Electrician wreaked havoc with machinery within Midway City, enabling
him and his gang to loot the metropolis' bank. As further protection, he used artificial
lightning to render them invisible. Though hampered by Mavis Trent in the
guise of Hawkgirl, Hawkman managed to defeat the villains (MYSTERY IN SPACE #
88, due to be reprinted soon in HAWKMAN ARCHIVES).

More to come!

Tenzel KimMember

posted May 26, 2000 05:15 PM

Ola:

Seeing that you're getting lots of great obscure DC info, does that mean I'll
be seeing lots of new profiles for the Guide soon?

If only I could enlist the help of Rich Morrissey, Mikishawm, and D. R. Black as well we
could have a killer site in no time.

Mikishawm:

Do you have a database with complete listings of every appearance of all DC characters or
what? If this is the case I'd very much like to hear if you'd be interested in sharing that
info so that we could build the best DC resource site ever seen.

The site I have at the moment could benefit greatly from your info for the biographies as
well as the continuity/appearance lists for instance. So far the site takes up about
80 MBs of space and includes 120 character profiles, almost 2000 indexed DC books among other
things but it could be so much better.

Please take a look and let me know if you'd be interested in helping out in some way.

Tenz.

The Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
http://members.xoom.com/Tenzel/index.htm

MikishawmMember

posted May 27, 2000 09:16 PM

Tenz:

I'll have to decline the invitation but I'm flattered by the offer. Your site
IS really impressive. I'd like to put together a web site of mine some day
soon but I'm so overcommitted now that I don't know when I'll have the time.
As you surmised, I do have a database on all the DC characters, one that runs
thousands of single-spaced pages.

Hellstone:

On with the show ...

Bob the Galactic Bum was, for lack of a better description, W.C. Fields (or, for you
Superman fans, J. Wilbur Wolfingham) in space. With a bulbous red nose, battered top hat and
ample belly, Bob moved from port to port, putting his own uniquely loquacious
spin on every successive hardship that he and his comrade Buck Fifty
encountered. Buck, who possessed a nose of Muppet-like dimensions had a
vocabulary that consisted of the phrase "What ?"

In the course of 1995's four-part BOB THE GALACTIC BUM series (by Alan Grant & John Wagner
and Carlos Ezquera), Bob and Buck became the only survivors of a Khund raid on a
space cruiser -- save for Chazza, the so-called "idiot prince" of the planet
Gazza. While Lobo (prominently featured on each cover) and Stealth searched
for Chazza on behalf of the R.E.B.E.L.S., Bob made his way to the world of
Gnulp, insulting and mocking Chazza's claims of royalty for the entire trip.
Only at the conclusion of # 2 did the bum realize his mistake.

Helping Chazza from the pig sty where he'd left him, Bob explained that it had all been a
test. "Had I helped you -- had I lifted ONE FINGER of assistance -- as was my deep
desire, I can assure you -- you would have been INSTANTLY DISQUALIFIED and
barred for life!" Proclaiming Chazza a "Knight of Space," Bob presented the
prince with a "beautifully inscribed medal" bearing the phrase "Eat my
shorts."

"What does it mean ?"

"It's CODE, sire! All will be revealed in one year's time on the anniversary of this
initiation."

Bob cemented his relationship with Chazza when he met the prince's guru and challenged
"this charlatan to a philosophical debate." As the staredown commenced, Bob
explained that "we're conducting this battle on a higher plane. Mind against
mind. I'm grappling with him now. One of my theories has just overwhelmed
several of his suppositions. Stand by for further news." Predicting that the
guru was "verging on total collapse," Bob distracted Chazza and knocked his
opponent out cold.

Unfortunately, Bob did too good of a job. Chazza regained the throne but promptly
abdicated, moved by Bob's "sacrifice" at giving up the freedom of space for life in a
kingdom. "We'll roam the cosmos together, the three of us,"predicted Chazza.
"Tumbleweeds adrift on the winds of space."

"I should've trusted my first instinct!" Bob moaned. "He's a king, all right -- King
Piker!"

Introduced opposite the debut of Eclipso in 1963's HOUSE OF SECRETS # 61 (by Jack Miller,
Mort Meskin and George Roussos), Doctor-7 was a self-styled "King of the Supernatural"
who imagined occult investigator Mark Merlin to be his only competition.
Visually, he bears more than a passing resemblance to the later Phantom
Stranger foe Tannarak. Both wore tuxedos, sported goatees and had black hair
that went up in tufts on each side of their forehead.

Initially, much of Doctor-7's reputation was founded on trickery (# 65) but he did possess
genuine occult knowledge and drew a being known as the Morloo to Earth. From
changing granite to gold to altering the make-up of human beings, the Morloo
was an almost unstoppable threat that Merlin and Elsa Magusson narrowly
succeeded in expelling from Earth on three occasions (# 67, 68, 72).

E. Nelson Bridwell plotted a supposed descendant, Lucifer Seven, into SECRETS OF THE LEGION
OF SUPER-HEROES # 1 but no connection was stated in the text. The official
origin (in WHO'S WHO IN THE LEGION # 4) described him as "an artificial being
created by a rogue scientist ... the seventh in a series and the first
successful model."

According to 1999's DCU VILLAINS SECRET FILES # 1, "Dr. 7, whose talent lies with
communicating with ghosts, is rumored to have been corrupted by the great beyond."

Voted "Mister Anti-Social" by his graduating class, Roger Romane thought he'd found his
niche in the Research and Development division of the Army Engineer Corps in the late
1930s. Instead, his"concept of multi-purpose tools for use by combat
engineers" was met with derision and he was ejected from the military after
insulting the General who dismissed his work.

Romane decided to devote his energies to stealing from the world he hated and, to that end,
designed a costume lined with hidden pockets and filled with a plethora of miniaturized
weapons, everything from flamethrowers to sonic disruptors to a compact hovercraft. Among
the Gadgeteer's first victims in the fall of 1939 were New York Star publisher Edward
Runyon and his date Kathy Kulhammer, a Congressman's daughter (STEEL, THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN
# 3), who used their influence to convince the mystery-man known as Steel to track down the
marauder on their behalf.

An off-hand reference to the "E-Corps" alerted Steel (secretly a military man named Hank
Heywood) to the Gadgeteer's possible origin and a check of the Corps' files revealed
Romane's name. Steel tracked down the villain at his last known address but
the suicidal Gadgeteer attempted to kill them both with a grenade, vowing
he'd "NEVER be taken alive!" Steel took the force of the explosion but Romane
had disappeared by the time he regained consciousness (STEEL # 4).

The Legion of the Weird was composed of five beings devoted to carrying on the dark
aspects of the millennia, including Count Karnak (a vampire), Hordred ("in whose veins flows
the blood of the ancient Druids"), Kaftu ("master of the black arts of
ancient Egypt"), Madoga ("last of the great medicine men") and Mistress Vera
Wycker ("with the powers handed down to me through three centuries of
witchcraft."). For her initiation into the Legion, Mistress Wycker was
charged with killing Ace Morgan of the Challengers of the Unknown. She failed
and, despite the efforts of the other Legionnaires to complete the task
before her, the Challs tracked the team to its lair, used an ancient spell to
dissolve the witch and forced the remainder of the team to flee (1968's COTU
# 62, by Arnold Drake and Bob Brown).

Hours later, the Legionnaires made a pact with the demonic Om, "lord of the netherworlds"
to resurrect Mistress Wycker. Now determined to destroy the Challengers, the
team needed more power. To that end, Kaftu resurrected the Egyptian mummy
Tukamenon, who was compelled to obey the Egyptian shaman unless he was forced
to cause "the shedding of mortal blood." Hoping to override the mummy's
refusal to kill, Kaftu used the ruby Eye of Osiris to put Tutkamenon fully in
his power. In the ensuing battle, Red Ryan's brother, Tino Mannary, was
blinded by the Eye of Osiris and Red agreed to surgery that would give one of
his eye's to his sibling. While in recovery, Tino was abducted by the Legion
as a stunned Red realized that "I can SEE them. With this eye, Ace! I can see
everything my kid brother can see with the other one!"

The cliffhanger of # 63 would go unresolved for six months, the result of Arnold Drake's
abrupt firing by DC. When the story finally resumed in COTU # 66, it was concluded
by Mike Friedrich and Jack Sparling.

The Legion's mission of vengeance was now exposed as an edict from the unseen Om, whose
voice bellowed that "the Challengers are a major threat to my supreme scheme!" The balance
of power was upset when the Challs convinced the mummy that he'd killed them,
snapping him out of the spell he was under. Tutkamenon rebelled, raging
against the Legionnaires and finally collapsing, his artificial life
exhausted. The rest of the Legion begged Om to rescue them and the demonic
being complied, warning the Challs that "you have thwarted my plan this time!
But I shall return -- and Om does not fail TWICE!"

Tenzel KimMember

posted May 27, 2000 10:01 PM

Originally posted by Mikishawm:

Tenz:
I'll have to decline the invitation but I'm flattered by the offer. Your site
IS really impressive. I'd like to put together a web site of mine some day
soon but I'm so overcommitted now that I don't know when I'll have the time.
As you surmised, I do have a database on all the DC characters, one that runs
thousands of single-spaced pages.

That's ok. I just had to ask

Anyway, is it ok for me or Ola to use the stuff you post here on the boards for future
profiles and such?

And about that database. Would it be possible for me to get my hands on that so that I
could use it to sort out the continuity of the different characters featured in the Guide or
should I just ask about each of the characters one by one?

Seeing that making such a database must have taken a lot of time I'd understand if you
weren't interested in letting me have it. If it is this part you already declined to
I'm sorry I asked again, but in case it was just that you didn't have the
time or interest in participating in the actual work I would hate myself for
not asking.

Anyway, if we are allowed to use any of your information you would of course be credited
for your work.

HellstoneMember

posted May 28, 2000 10:03 AM

Thank you once again, friends.

I started making my own DC character database (or rather, a list that will
become a database) about four years ago, but it seems that this is only small
potatoes compared to Mikishawm's.

Naturally, I will use the info I get here in my database for personal use, but I also want
to say that I agree completely with Tenz. If you guys (Mikishawm in particular) don't want
me to use this information in texts (profiles, articles, et cetera)
accessable to the public eye, I won't. At least not without asking.

Anyway, in DC SUPER-STARS #9 (Nov. 1976) there is a reprint story called "The Secret
Story of Ray Gun 64!" by John Broome and Frank Giacoia. The story is a Space
Museum-esque type thing where the history of a gun called the S-64. I know
this may be a stretch, but since one chracter calls it an "S-64 ray
gun", I could see how this could be abbreviated as SR 64. (I know you
wanted SR 12, but this is the best I could do!)

Here's the low down on the SR-64; Towards the end of the 23rd century humans are able to
spread thru the galaxy and conquer savage worlds. They owe it all (or at least that's
what the chracters keep repeating) to the S-64, a ray gun that disintegrates
anything it hits - including a Neptunian groud octopus and a Callistan dragon
bat, as seen in the story.

The S-64's inventor was one Mark Saunders (wonder if he's a descender of Greg, Saunders,
Speed Saunders, etc?). In 2219, Mark and his girlfriend Helen leave for Venus in
hopes of testing his disintegrator prototype. Well, SR-1 fails, and so do all
the rest, each numbered sequentially. Five years later, S-64 finally works
and the galaxy is a better place now that people can disintegrate each other.

The numbering sequence of Mark's failed disintegrator prototypes does imply that at one
time there was a SR-12. But of course, it didn't work correctly.

I don't know anything about where the story opriginally appeared, execept that there is a
1951 copyright date on the splash page. I'd guess, however, that it was an early
tale from STRANGE ADVENTURES or MYSTERY IN SPACE.

John MooresMember

posted May 28, 2000 01:49 PM

SR-12 was a purple haired female alien created by Joe Kubert especially for
the DC Super-Heroes Encyclopedia (c.1977). Others in this vein were Jonna
Crisp, an astronaut-type; El Dragón, a Mexican with a great outfit &
Ted and Teri Trapper, black detectives....
as far as I know, they never appeared in any actual comics, but seem an
attempt to redress the lack of minority heroes in DC Comics to any little
kids reading the encyclopaedia.

HellstoneMember

posted May 28, 2000 01:55 PM

I can't believe it. I got the answer!!! Of course, it must have been you who
mentioned SR 12 on these boards the first time, John. I wrote down the name
because I thought the character sounded interesting, then forgot where I saw
it. Thank you.

And thank you for SR-64, D.R.. More than five times as good as 12, I guess.

Now, if just someone can tell me who the hell the Teutonic Knight was...

/ola

HellstoneMember

posted May 28, 2000 02:05 PM

And, by the way, for #82 on my list, I meant El Dragón, not El Dorado
(another character who was sorted out earlier in this thread). I remember El
Dragón being mentioned in the very same post where I first heard about SR-12,
but confused the names. Not that it matters now that all of these characters have been
explained.

/ola

MikishawmMember

posted May 28, 2000 03:21 PM

Tenzel & Hellstone:

Yep, I'm going to hold back on the complete database for the time being. But
both of you are welcome to use the info on your sites. It's a given that the
info is going to be used by other people when I post it in a public forum
like this. With you guys, at least, I know it'll be used by people who CARE
about DC's history and I appreciate the courtesy of your asking for permission.

And, Hellstone, at the risk of depressing you further, I just checked my Master List of
DC's heroes (single-spaced, two column pages with their names and first appearances).
It's currently at 207 pages.

The mystery of SR-12 -- solved at last! I'll finally be able to sleep at nights. Thanks,
John!

"The Secret Story of Ray Gun 64" is from MYSTERY IN SPACE # 5 (1951). There's
another interesting background detail in that story. On page two, we see a monument
recognizing "Giles Graham, who built the first ship to travel to Rann -- 2201 A.D."

As it happens, I just did a piece on all the DC horror hosts for COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE
# 80 so I have a ready-made bio on the Mad Mod Witch. (Obviously, I don't want to run
everything here so the other hosts are off limits for the time being. Enjoy
the preview, though.)

Tiny skulls dangled from her ears and a necklace of bones surrounded her scrawny neck.
A patch covered her right eye, drawing attention away from the wart at the end of her
prominent nose. "Now don't let my appearance throw you," she cautioned. "I'm
not one of those square witches you've seen before. I might be mad -- but I'm
also mod. See ..." she said, exposing a bony leg, "fishnet stockings."

One month after Cain made his bow in Joe Orlando's HOUSE OF MYSTERY # 175 (1968), it was
editor Murray Boltinoff's turn to introduce a host with "Tales of the Mad Mod Witch" in THE
UNEXPECTED # 108, a back-up to the title's Johnny Peril strip. Dave Wood
scripted the episodes, which a succession of artists (beginning with Jack
Sparling)pencilled.

As the horror hosts began to proliferate, Boltinoff began to regard them as stale and
dropped all such characters from his books. Neil Gaiman revived the character in THE SANDMAN
as the Fashion Thing, a witch who evolved with the times.

Okay, I have yet only 140 pages of DC characters AND alter egos AND teams AND
races AND places AND stuff altogether. (single-spaced, 10pt NewRomanTimes). And about 1/5
of the character information I have is not complete. Never challenge the master...

So the Fashion Thing is really the Mad Mod Witch? I had no idea.

/ola

MikishawmMember

posted May 28, 2000 06:57 PM

Re: The Teutonic Knight.

At the end of TEEN TITANS SPOTLIGHT # 11, Doctor Mist and Belphegor visit a
cemetary. Belphegor comments that she'd "like to put some flowers on the
tomb of Simon Lesur first."

"Simon Lesur ?"

"The Templar Knight. You remember ?"

"Oh, yes, I do now ..."

Could this be who you're looking for ?

Also, I haven't found any DC characters named Firestar. Did you intend to refer
to someone else ?

The Masked Ranger, alas, appeared in MORE FUN # 36-41, issues which are not
available on microfiche. He SOUNDS like a Lone Ranger knock-off but I have no way of
confirming that.

Tenzel KimMember

posted May 28, 2000 07:22 PM

Originally posted by Hellstone:

Okay, I have yet only 140 pages of DC characters AND alter egos AND teams AND
races AND places AND stuff altogether. (single-spaced, 10pt NewRomanTimes).
And about 1/5 of the character information I have is not complete. Never
challenge the master...

Hmmm, I wish I had my info written down that way so that I could compare my info to yours.
I only know I have about 2000 books indexed and lots of various other info hanging around on
my pc in hundreds of different documents. Maybe I ought to get some order to it

Mikishawm: Thank you for letting us use the info. Now I just have to convince Ola to write
up some of the profiles so that we can get some new profiles online now that the rest of
the page has been updated

John MooresMember

posted May 28, 2000 10:13 PM

Sorry, but I'm sure the only Teutonic Knight in comics is Marvels character,
who according to my price guide fought the Invaders in #29-30 of their comic.
I know I've said that before.....

HOTRODMember

posted May 29, 2000 12:30 AM

I, too, remember SR-12 from a DC Comics Dictionary that was in our school
library in about 1980...and SHE was an alien, but I remember her in a purple
outfit with short, black hair plastered down on her head, with two twirly
bits of hair around the ears. Very mod!!! But I never saw her make an appearance
in comix. I was shocked when I read some else remembered her!!!

HellstoneMember

posted May 29, 2000 03:00 AM

As you may have understood by now, my sources aren't always 100% reliable.
When I first started my list-to-become-a-database, I wrote down characters I
encountered very sporadically, initially without recording their appearances
(that has changed now), and in some cases I may have got the names wrong.
This "Templar Knight" Mikishawm is referring to could be the one I
thought was named Teutonic Knight, but I'm not sure. Regarding Firestar, I
can just say that this is a name on my list (after Fire, Fireball, Firebird,
Firebrand I-III, Firebug, Firefist, Firefly, Firehair, Firehawk, Fire Jade,
Firelad, and Fireman Farrell, but before Firestorm, the First Citadelian, the
First of the Fallen, Fisherman, and the Fishman of Nyarl-Amen). But I have
no idea whatsoever who he/she might be.

/ola

John MooresMember

posted May 29, 2000 08:18 AM

Hey, you also need The Fire Ghosts (from ALL STAR COMICS #3), and the Fire
People (from a later issue of ALL STAR -- somewhere in the #40s?)....

Also, there were two Fireflies who fought Batman and a Golden Age
Fisherman....check out D.Stepp's site for slightly more details....!

HellstoneMember

posted May 30, 2000 05:58 AM

Okay, I have not got all my answers from last round yet, but, impatient as I
am, here is...THE FINAL ROUND. (for me and for this time, at least)

I can't believe that Rich Morrissey, the Encyclopedia of All Comics Knowledge
himself, forgot to mention that Silver Shannon of the Maniaks popped up in
Super-Friends (oh, that sneaky Nelson Bridwell!) at least once, becoming one
of the Elementals, an odd group for comics in that it contained three females
and only one male. I believe that it was established that Silver was a friend
(nudge nudge) of Bruce Wayne.

Darn it! I can't find a lot of my Super-Friends issues to look it up -- the
cats must have gotten into them and I probably threw those shredded issues
away. (Also can't find the Nubia or Supergirl S-F appearances. Maybe they've
just been misfiled??? Please?)

T5Member

posted May 30, 2000 04:26 PM

The TNT duo (was there a trio?) appeared in YOUNG ALL-STARS # 1 --
I don´t know their first app. though.

Here's an obscure character for you:
Gudra the Valkyrie: She did appear in the YOUNG ALL-STARS but she had earlier
appearances in WONDER WOMAN in the 40´s.

D. R. BlackMember

posted May 30, 2000 04:56 PM

Not much time right now, but here's a quickie on Nimrod the Hunter.

First appearing in SHADOW OF THE BAT #7-9 (the Misfits story line) Dean
Hunter is an escaped con from Texas. Framed for murder by a villian named Chancer
(there's another obscurity), Hunter busts out of jail, steals a military
camoflague suit that gives him chameleon like invisibilty powers, and heads
to Gotham to find Chancer.

Anyway, being a convicted killer, Hunter runs into trouble with Batman. But when Bruce
Wayne, Comm. Gordon, and Mayor Krol are kidnapped by Calendar Man, Killer Moth, Cat Man,
and Chancer, Robin forms an uneasy alliance with Hunter. In the end they win
out, and with Chancer safely behind bars, Hunter gives himself up to Batman.
Since Chancer had yet to "un-frame" Hunter by testifying in court,
Hunter was still an escaped convict. The super suit went back to the military.

About Chancer; He's a guy wearing a white and red costume with two dice on the front. He's
unbelieveably lucky, getting all the good breaks and chances and thus, his
name. His real name is unkown, having never been caught before.

Chancer is eventually caught after falling off a roof in the final battle, but he lived
because an awning broke his fall. As Batman said "Luck is relative" - breaking a few
bones is better than dying. Oh yeah, Chancer also wields a metallic club
(like a car jack) that he throws at his opponents. He often times misses, but
the club riccochets off walls, falg poles, etc so that it eventually hits its
target. Just another example of Chancer's luck holding out, I suppose.

MikishawmMember

posted May 30, 2000 07:07 PM

I have just enough time tonight to tell Lina that Silver Shannon WASN'T in
SUPER FRIENDS. The Elementals were Grant (the Gnome) Arden, Jeannine (the
Sylph) Gale, Crystal (the Undine) Marr and Ginger (the Salamander) O'Shea.
When they were first introduced, though, they were chatting about Bruce
Wayne's recent break-up with Silver ST. CLOUD.

Nubia was in SF # 25 and Supergirl was in SF # 37.

FranklinMember

posted June 04, 2000 08:30 PM

The Original Atomic Knight?

I'm asking because Dan Mishkin introduced "The New Atomic Knight" in the pre-crisis
WONDER WOMAN series (boy, did that boost sales! ), but I'd never (and haven't since) heard
of the original.

MikishawmMember

posted June 06, 2000 03:42 PM

Sorry for the long delay! I'll try to tackle the rest of Hellstone's list one
at at time.

"INFIDEL! My lord Al Ghul leaves the chamber FIRST!"

As first impressions go, Ubu made a doozy, shoving The Batman to one side when the
Dark Knight showed signs of exiting the Batcave ahead of his new would-be partner Ra's Al
Ghul. Ra's explained that the hulking, bald man was "trained to my COMPLETE service
... and a trifle OVERZEALOUS."

It was Ubu who unwittingly tipped off Batman to the fact that the abduction of Robin and
Talia was, for the most part, a set-up. Nearly killed by a leopard in a
darkened room, the Dark Knight had one question in retrospect -- why didn't
Ubu allow the Master to enter THAT doorway first ? The answer, of course, was
that it was all a test that Ra's had orchestrated to test the detective's
abilities as both his successor and prospective son-in-law. For his part, Ubu
played the alleged kidnapper, briefly confronting the Dark Knight with a
ram's head mask (1971's BATMAN # 232, by O'Neil, Adams and Giordano).

Ubu returned briefly in # 243, now playing bodyguard to Talia in Switzerland. Knocked
unconscious by Batman, the underling was forgotten as Ra's (newly-resurrected by the Lazarus
Pit) and Talia fled in # 244.

The Pit had not been shut down properly and, within hours, an explosion rocked the Swiss
Alps. The semi-conscious Ubu was caught at ground zero. The accident left Ubu with
severe burns and an unwavering green glow that made it clear that the man had
been permanently altered. Ra's' servant was taken into the care of two Swiss
doctors, Varnov and Kolb, who hoped to ascertain the secret of immortality
from the giant's body. Muttering about revenge against millionaire Bruce
Wayne, Ubu fled and the doctors followed, gambling that he would seek out
Wayne in Gotham City. Ubu ended up in Wayne Manor, the now-abandoned sight
where he had seen Bruce unmasked as Batman. Ubu had killed Kolb and left
Alfred for dead before Batman arrived on the scene and learned of Varnov's
true motives. Ubu lunged at Batman and, caught in a stranglehold, the
desperate Dark Knight kicked the giant in the stomach, knocking him
backwards, where "he impaled himself on that splintered railing." (!973's
DETECTIVE # 438, by Archie Goodwin and Jim Aparo).

Life went on for Ra's and, by 1978, he had replaced Ubu with a lookalike named Lurk (DC
SPECIAL SERIES # 15, by O'Neil, Michael Golden and Giordano). "I've fought your kind
back on that mountain in the Himalayas," Batman said between punches, "and it
won't be any different here. You're immensely powerful -- but Ra's does your
thinking -- and battles are won by brains as much as by brawn."

In DETECTIVE # 490, Lurk deviated from Ra's instructed attack on the Sensei's men to take a
shot at Batman and ended up failing in his primary mission. "You really fouled this one,
friend. Ra's is going to be VERY unhappy. If I were you," the Dark Knight
suggested, "I'd find a place to hide -- preferably on another planet."

The opening chapter of Marv Wolfman's "Lazarus Affair" multi-parter (in late 1980's BATMAN
# 332) added another wrinkle to the origins of Ra's' underlings when Batman was
confronted by several bald, hulking "mutates," ordinary men who been altered
in a laboratory to become "unstoppable dreadnoughts." It was no great
surprise to learn that the master of the mutates was Ra's Al Ghul himself (#
334-335).

Mike W. Barr and Trevor Von Eeden introduced the next of Ra's' bodyguards in 1982's BATMAN
ANNUAL # 8. Though he possessed the same temperment as his predecessors, Grind
actually had hair -- a black crewcut. He returned in Barr's SON OF THE DEMON
(1987) and BRIDE OF THE DEMON (1990). Left for dead by the mad Doctor
Carmody, Grind was presumably killed in the subsequent explosion of Ra's' mountain
fortress.

Ubu made a surprising reappearance in 1998's BATMAN: BANE OF THE DEMON # 1-4 (by Chuck
Dixon, Graham Nolan and Tom Palmer), his face now hidden behind a hockey-like mask.
Wearing a variation of BATMAN # 232's ram's head mask, he appeared to perish
once again in # 4, this time at the hands of Bane, who took the giant's place
at Ra's and Talia's side.

Mistaking Bane (his face hidden by the ram's helmet) for Ubu, Batman explained to Tim Drake
that "there seem to have been MANY Ubus. I'm sure I've never encountered this one
before" (DETECTIVE # 700). More recently, Ubu had appeared (with the hockey
mask) in BATMAN: THE CHALICE and (without) in JLA # 43.

The Ubu of the animated universe can be seen in THE BATMAN AND ROBIN ADVENTURES # 10 and 25
while other variations have appeared in BATMAN: DARK KNIGHT OF THE ROUND TABLE # 2,
JLA: THE NAIL # 2 and SUPERMAN & BATMAN: GENERATIONS # 3.

MikishawmMember

posted June 07, 2000 03:10 PM

During World War Two, the Soviet Union was desperate to provide symbolic
heroes of the state to counter the Master Race being touted by Nazi Germany.
To that end, they created enhanced superhumans like Stalnoivolk. Another volunteer
for the program was Boris Mikhail Dhomov, a fourteen-year-old soldier who
gained a body-builder's physique and became "a super-worker, able to leap
vast rivers or topple huge buildings." Garbed in a dark blue costume with red
and white highlights (including the requisite hammer and sickle), Dhomov
became Proletariat. With his aging arrested by his transformation, he was
"still useful as (the Soviet's) 'advisor' to the North Vietnamese." Later
still, he helped train a new generation of Russian metahumans, including the
trio known as Red Trinity.
"But it became difficult to explain to him the need of Comrade Gorbachev's
reforms. He was -- restrained" but fled to the United States, intent on
"trying to start a diplomatic incident."

Travelling to Keystone City, where Red Trinity had set up shop as Kapitalist Kouriers,
Proletariat attached a bomb of Khundian origin (discovered after INVASION!) to the city's
power generator. While the Kouriers and Dhomov's brother, Andrei (now a
Russian ambassador) distracted Proletariat, the Flash and Lady Flash (a
short-lived persona of Christina Alexandrova) rushed the explosive to the
river, where it detonated safely. Having held off his adversaries,
Proletariat escaped and is, presumably, still at large. (1991's FLASH # 51,
by William Messner-Loebs, Greg La Rocque and Roy Richardson)

MikishawmMember

posted June 08, 2000 03:11 PM

Today's villain:

Scarth was a musclebound guy in a techno-tanktop with a spiked blond crewcut
and an Aryan sense of superiority. "NOTHING can hurt me if I see it COMING,"
he boasted. "It's a reflex. It's a gift." Armed with an assortment of
weapons, he was the chief enforcer for Necrodyne Industries, a sinister
corporation run by the wizened Mr. Dunwich. Initially, Scarth's primary focus
was the recapture of the immortal man named Incarnate (in Steven Grant and
Vince Giarrano's MANHUNTER (1994 series) # 3, 5) but Chase "Manhunter" Lawlor
quickly became a secondary target. The first bout went to Lawlor when he
knocked Scarth off a skyscraper. Climbing out of a deep crater, the bloodied
Scarth vowed that the next time would be different (# 4).

In issue # 8, Scarth succeeded in capturing Manhunter by blasting him from behind. Lawlor
escaped in short order, pulling his mask over Scarth's face so that he couldn't react
to his blows. The final conflict devastated Necrodyne, with Dunwich himself
slain by Incarnate. Lawlor used one of Scarth's own weapons (a flash gun) to
blind the villain and then proceeded to beat him to a pulp. As he was carried
off, Scarth was informed by the obsequious Mister Jaffey that "by the time
you wake up again, I'll be RUNNING Necrodyne. And YOU we'll REBUILD, better
than ever. I have a whole BUNCH of improvements in mind" (# 9).

HellstoneMember

posted June 09, 2000 04:24 AM

Scarth sounds like a really crappy villain.

As always, I'm grateful and impressed, Mikishawm.

/ola

MikishawmMember

posted June 09, 2000 03:37 PM

I see we're in agreement on Scarth.

Today's entry (which I really should have prepared for June 6) is on
the T.N.T. Trio.

By 1960, most of the DC war books had continuing features -- OUR ARMY AT WAR: Sgt. Rock,
OUR FIGHTING FORCES: Gunner & Sarge, STAR-SPANGLED WAR STORIES: Mlle. Marie. And G.I.
COMBAT ? It introduced the T.N.T. Trio in issue # 83. Written by Bob Kanigher
and illustrated by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, soldiers Big Al, Little Al
and Charlie Cigar held the lead for three issues before the series returned
to episodic war stories in # 86. Searching for a feature with more of a hook,
Kanigher teamed with Russ Heath to create "The Haunted Tank" in # 87 and the
rest was history. The T.N.T. trio returned for one final adventure in # 86
(with art by Jack Abel), a four-pager following the second "Tank" installment.

MikishawmMember

posted June 10, 2000 04:15 PM

Today's Villain ...

The-Thing-That-Cannot-Die was a strange-looking creature, pink with a
horse-like snout, buck-teeth, a tuft of white hair on his head, one arm, a
long tail and a body that appeared to be a ball of fur. He had been exiled to
the other-dimensional Beyond Region by Merlin in the distant past. Describing
himself as English and "like a goblin" (1991's THE DEMON # 16, by Alan Grant,
Val Semeiks and Bob Smith), the Thing admitted to Wonder Woman that he had
been "very, very, VERY bad" but had attoned (# 17). His curse (as his name
made clear) was to be eternally reborn after each time he was murdered.

Joining with Jason Blood, the Thing hoped to find a way out of his prison (# 16-20) and
was judged by the gatekeeper to be virtuous and entitled to go free. Instead, Blood (as the
demon Etrigan) kicked the Thing aside and returned to Earth himself (# 20).
The Thing finally escaped his prison but wound up in another -- Hell (# 36).
Once again, he joined Etrigan in the hope of escaping and, once again, he was
betrayed and left behind (# 37-39).

Only by hiding in the hood of Etrigan's cloak did the Thing finally make it to Earth
(# 43), where an enraged Demon delighted in murdering the being again and again (# 44).
The Thing lived in Jason Blood's home in Gotham City (# 49, 51, 0, 52, 53) until
the structure was destroyed, at which point he and a demon posing as Harry Matthews
decided to take a trip to the quieter locale of California (# 54).

While investigating the evil that had overtaken Etrigan in recent years, the former Wonder
Woman known as Requiem met the Thing in Jason Blood's new Gateway City apartment.
The innocuous creature was exposed as a monstrous figure, "a demon of the
Ninth Circle! The same ring of Hell from which Merlin plucked Etrigan!" Using
a unique sword that the Hell-Enders had provided her with, Requiem finally
killed the Thing with a force that wouldn't permit it to return (WONDER WOMAN # 130).

MikishawmMember

posted June 11, 2000 06:33 PM

Late in 1959, a robotics specialist unveiled his latest creation, a replica
of Wonder Woman that he claimed was superior to the genuine article. The
Amazon Princess accepted the man's challenge, agreeing to retire if the robot
won a contest between the two of them. Unfortunately for Diana, the
competition was stacked in the artificial being's favor: the victory would go
to the one who went the longest without sleep.
Humiliated, Diana agreed to return to Paradise Island, unaware that the Robot
Master was known as Professor Menace, who had arranged the scheme on behalf
of the underworld. Not content to leave Wonder Woman in retirement, Professor
Menace commanded his robot to attack Diana as shewas flying home. The Amazon
made quick work of the being, short-circuiting it with an electric eel, and brought the
Robot Master to justice (WONDER WOMAN (first series) # 111, by Bob Kanigher,
Ross Andru and Mike Esposito).

Professor Menace was one of several criminal masterminds who took part in a prison break in
1961. Recognizing that they'd be the subject of a manhunt by the Justice League, the villains
decided to take precautions. The Robot Master would be a key player. He
constructed exact replicas of each criminal and it was those robots -- wired
with explosives -- that were sent into battle with the JLA. Stumbling onto
the fact that their foes were artificial beings, Green Arrow suspected the
worst and fired arrows into their bodies, causing the explosion meant for
himself and his teammates. In a remarkable one-mate feat, GA trailed the true
rogues to their lair and captured all six men (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 5).

HellstoneMember

posted June 12, 2000 08:37 AM

Returning to an earlier topic... It just struck me that the supporting cast
of SWING WITH SCOOTER seems to be synonymous with the friends of Binky (which
is probably why Ghost Who Walks thought they were one and the same). So
what's the story here? Where did they appear first?

/ola

MikishawmMember

posted June 12, 2000 12:45 PM

LEAVE IT TO BINKY debuted in 1948 so most of its supporting cast predates
SWING WITH SCOOTER by about 18 years.

Today's bio:

Marschall Saber and Henry Cannon had a passion for murder ... and each other.
Clad in a green uniform, the red-haired Saber was an expert marksman, an assassin for a New
York City mobster named Leibowitz. Cannon hid his Moe Howard haircut in a dark blue
body suit, offset by a yellow robe, gloves and boots and was a blade master
in the service of the Rinaldi Mob.

Early in 1984, the men decided a career move was in order and each murdered the other's
boss. They did so on the orders of a woman within the District Attorney's office who
vowed to consolidate Manhattan's gangs under her control. Saber had thrown
down his rifle almost without a fight when he encountered the Vigilante while
Cannon simply surrendered to the police. They did so knowing that D.A. Marcia
King would "put in an application for both assassins with the Government
Witness Relocation Program" and set them free.

Appalled that the duo was literally getting away with murder, the Vigilante raided their
apartment and quickly found himself outmatched. Brought down by successive knife and bullet
wounds, the Vigilante might well have been shot to death by Saber had it not
been for the intervention of another concerned citizen -- the
Electrocutioner. Arriving on the scene, the police found three unconscious
gunmen -- the Vigilante and the electrocuted but still breathing Cannon and
Saber (VIGILANTE # 5, by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard and Romeo Tanghal.).

In a rather ludicrous scene, the couple escaped the hospital after Cannon threw a
lightweight plastic knife at Captain Arthur Hall. Instead of falling to the ground as it
would have in the real world, the knife slashed Hall's throat (# 7). The
assassins took their services to the West Coast. Itt was at their Malibu beach
house that they accepted a contract to kill the Vigilante (# 35).

By now, the mantle of the Vigilante had passed from Adrian Chase to Alan Welles to Dave
Winston. Despite his unfamiliarity with the duo, Winston held his own and managed to
get a shot off at Saber, wounding him seriously enough for Cannon to abandon
the battle and flee. In the course of the conflict, the men had revealed
their client's Long Island address and, with Saber recovered, they raced to
the scene to salvage their reputation. In the end, Vigilante manuevered them
into striking each other: Saber took a blade to the shoulder and Cannon was
felled by a bullet in the abdomen (1986's VIGILANTE ANNUAL # 2, by Paul
Kupperberg, Ross Andru and Tony DeZuniga, with edits by Wolfman).

Cannon and Saber were slated to return in 1989's MANHUNTER # 10, which would
have introduced a gay supporting cast member named Vince Nuncioin into the
series. As described by co-writer John Ostrander in AMAZING HEROES # 145,
"Mark Shaw was cellmates with him in prison. In prison, as on the
streets, if you need something, he'll arrange it." According to AH # 157, the
episode had "already scared a couple of artists off" and, with
MANHUNTER's cancellation in early 1990, the story's completion became a moot point.

Cannon and Saber's WHO'S WHO entry was in issue # 26 of the original series in 1987.

MikishawmMember

posted June 13, 2000 07:06 PM

A secret war was being waged against the Earth and the only two people who
could stop it were from a planet hundreds of light years away. The Criminal
Alliance of the World -- C.A.W. -- was scouring the globe in search of the
scientific secrets of the ancients -- and their treasures.

In 1965, the organization had discovered an Egyptian statue in the form of a
dog that was designed by the priests of Sebek to be far more. It was also
capable of short range teleportation, something which C.A.W. used "to loot
the underground tomb of Ramses." The villains abducted laborers to held steal
the riches, erected an invisible force field that was deadly to the touch and
preyed on native superstitions by wearing the heads of animals.

C.A.W. was unaware that there was a twin to the Dog of Sebek, one capable of long range
teleportation that activated each time the short range unit was used. In a fateful
development, the second dog was on display in the Midway City Museum and
unwittingly transported curator Shiera Hall to C.A.W.'s Egyptian site.
Trailing Shiera via the radiation given off in the exchange, her husband, the
Thanagarian police officer Hawkman, trailed her to Valley of the Crocodile,
fought off a band of Crocodile-Men and rescued Shiera.

Her appearance had alerted C.A.W. to the existence of the other teleporter and the couple
made a desperate flight out of the stronghold hoping to beat the agents to Midway
City. In the process, the local Dog of Sebek was broken and its American
duplicate suffered an identical injury(HAWKMAN (first series) # 7, by Gardner
Fox and Murphy Anderson). Now deemed worthless by C.A.W., the fragments of
the Dogs of Sebek proved to be a breakthrough when Hawkman and Hawkgirl
delivered them to Thanagar. Within a few years, the planet's scientists had
solved the secret of teleportation and the technology was eventually shared
with the Justice League of America (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 78).

By August of that year, the Central Intelligence Bureau had taken an active role in
thwarting the growing threat of C.A.W. With the Atom already on a case for the CIA (THE
ATOM # 21), they sought an alliance with the Tiny Titan's close friends,
Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

The Hawks learned that C.A.W. was keeping other foreign agents under surveillance, waiting
for them to steal government secrets and then hijacking that data for themselves.
After running a gauntlet of super-weapons (including a multi-outlet dart gun
and a unit that fired "guided propellers" as "sharp as razor blades"), the
heroes brought the local C.A.W. agents into custody and their method of
smuggling the stolen secrets was exposed (HAWKMAN # 10).

Within months, C.A.W. had set their sights on the ultimate lost secret -- a legendary
"computer" that contained all knowledge on Earth. The data was contained in a bronze "talking
head" and it was activated by a small lamp. The two pieces had been stolen
centuries ago from the scientific enclave known as the Nine Unknowns. In
1966, their successors had learned that the head and the lamp had finally
been located and were going to be stolen again -- by C.A.W. A representative
of the enclave was dispatched to Midway City to solicit the aid of the Hawks'
Absorbascon in tracking the artifacts. Unfortunately, C.A.W. feared the
heroes' interference and arranged for an attack of their own that would keep
them in Midway City.

By now, the C.A.W. agents had put secrecy behind them, proudly displaying their affiliation
in matching red and black costumes with a golden, razor-edged C.A.W. emblem on their
chest that doubled as a weapon. This time, Their high-tech armada included a
gun with anti-gravity discharges, a "bubble gun" whose output ate through
anything it touched, a "particlizer" that flooded its victim with enough
radiation to create an explosion and a "protonic amplifier."

No threat was enough to defeat Hawkman and Hawkgirl and they finally succeeded in uniting
the talking head and the lamp before the Nine Unknowns. The scientists detected a
radioactive aura surrounding the couple, however, and suspecting that C.A.W.
would use it to locate their base, caused the energy to dissipate. In fact,
the radiation had been the closest C.A.W. had come to a death-ray, one that
"takes time to permeate the human body." At the activation of an electronic
signal, the aura would kill its victim. The unwitting Hawks had cheated
death! (HAWKMAN # 14)

Furious at their latest failure, an international triad of C.A.W. leaders vowed that
"someday -- somehow -- somewhere -- CAW will find a way to smash Hawkman and Hawkgirl!"
There is no truth to the rumor that C.A.W. was behind Hawkman's
post-INVASION! DC continuity.

MikishawmMember

posted June 14, 2000 03:57 PM

"A week ago I saw my family ripped to pieces in front of me. Only I survived.
Now, whenever I use my powers, I can't forget they were brought by the death of my
parents, my brothers and my sister. It makes me crazy sometimes."

The summer of 1993 saw a wave of terror pass over the United States as a
group of alien parasites spread out on a campaign of death. A certain
percentage of their victims survived the encounters, which activated their
bodies' metagenes and unleashed strange new powers within them. For the young
man speaking above, survival came at a terrible price.

The darkness in Shadowstryke's soul was mirrored in the power he received.
He could now project jagged rays of shadow energy from his hands. Garbed in dark purple
and gray, Shadowstryke hid his face behind a mask whose sunken eyes and nose and
sewn-shut mouth suggested a skull. Seeking revenge against the parasites, he
joined with other so-called "New Bloods" Krag and Slingshot and formed an
alliance with Justice League America (JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA ANNUAL # 7, by
William Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque).

Eventually, nearly all of the New Bloods came together to crush the parasites' monstrous
offspring. As Shadowstryke fired his shadow-bolts at the creature, the bursts united with
the energy-blasts of Mongrel to create a truly formidable combination that
sent the monster reeling (BLOODBATH # 2). Shadowstryke has not been seen
since that bloody summer.

FranklinMember

posted June 14, 2000 06:31 PM

The original Atomic Knight? Anyone?

MikishawmMember

posted June 15, 2000 03:38 PM

Mr. Grayle is added to the list.

Today's obscure character comes by way of Charlton Comics:

The Banshee was born in the American Midwest, the tragic result of circus performer
the Flying Dundo's achievement of his greatest dream. Dundo had long been attempting to
design an aerodynamic costume that would enable him to truly take flight. In
1967, he perfected a cape which, when connected to his wrists and ankles,
enabled him to soar above the Earth. Dundo's stunned pupil, Max Bine,
recognized that the chartreuse cape had far more potential than mere circus
performances and murdered his mentor that night.

Adding a full face mask to hide his appearance, the villain (dressed entirely in green save
for yellow eye pieces) launched an amazing string of robberies across the nation.
"I make a swift, shocking entrance, strike fast before anyone can react ...
and be gone while everyone is still in a state of shock." After an astonished
victim gasped that "he swooped in and out like a ... a banshee," Bine took
the name for himself.

The Banshee finally met his match in Crown City when he was struck down by TV newsman Vic
Sage during a robbery. Taking flight without the jewel he'd intended to steal, Bine
refused to give up and, using more caution, kept Sage's alter-ego, the
Question, at arm's length for the next week. As a thunderstorm rolled in, the
two opponents met on the ledge of a skyscraper and the Question grabbed onto
the villain, adding more weight than his cape could support. Landing on an
opportune rooftop, the Banshee pulled out a pistol -- only to have the strong
winds catch his cape. Observing the out of control bandit fading into the
distance, the Question noted that "the Banshee's being blown out to sea. He
got just what he deserved."

The Banshee resurfaced years later in AMERICOMICS SPECIAL # 1 (1983) and, soon after, found
himself alongside dozens of other villains during the Great Crisis in July of 1985.
Surrounded by the likes of the Cheetah and Monsier Mallah, the Banshee stood
out in a new, solid white version of his costume (CRISIS # 9). Banshee was
later part of a strikeforce sent to Oa to prevent Krona from creating the
multiverse (CRISIS # 10). In the new reality that arose in the aftermath, the
Banshee's place is still unknown.

The Banshee of Irish mythology appeared in the Jack O'Lantern episode in SUPER
FRIENDS # 44 while Doctor Mid-Nite fought a second Banshee in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS
# 65.

MikishawmMember

posted June 16, 2000 08:26 PM

The Three Aces were Fog Fortune, Gunner Bill and Whistler Will, three
soldiers of fortune who debuted in 1939's ACTION COMICS # 18. The strip was
originally drawn by Bert Christman.

The closest any of the Three Aces came to having an origin story was in # 22,
Christman's last issue. Therein, Whistler Will was revealed to have been
found in the desert as a child by rancher Matt Saunders and his young
daughter, Sally. Alerted to the boy's presence by the soft whistling sound he
was making, Matt took the child as his own. As he grew up, Will spent much
time in the desert, often riding with local indians. "At sixteen, he
singlehandedly wiped out a band of rustlers." Will returned home in #
22's story to attend his adoptive sister's wedding. (You may recall that I
included Will on the Greg Sanders/Shiera Sanders/"Speed" Saunders family tree
that I posted on the STARS & S.T.R.I.P.E. board)

Chad Grothkopf picked up the art chores with ACTION # 23. During his run, the Aces
discovered no less than THREE lost Atlantean colonies, the last on the peak of Mount Shasta
in California (in # 37-38, 43 and 45). Zatara, it's worth noting, found a few
Atlantean sanctuaries himself in ACTION # 17-18 and 47.

The arrival of Louis Cazeneuve as artist in early 1942's ACTION # 47 coincided with the
Aces' post-Pearl Harbor decision to sign up with the U.S. military. They made their
final bows during mid-1943 in issue # 63's "Leatherneck Luck."

MikishawmMember

posted June 17, 2000 03:22 PM

In 1941, Harry Fowler had a promising career as a film writer with four
successful productions to his credit. World War Two changed everything for
Fowler and, upon his discharge from the army, he pursued a new career in
public service. By 1956, he was a well-regarded police detective on a West
Coast police force but the past had a way of returning to haunt him.

An early morning phone call launched Lieutenant Fowler on one of the most bizarre cases
of his career. An overnight jewelery store robbery had seemingly been committed by a
disheveled man called the Mad Maestro, virtually replicating a scene from
Fowler's first film, also called "The Mad Maestro."

Convinced that one of his former Hollywood colleagues might have a clue,
Fowler summoned producer Ben Gatewood, director Leif Conrad, public relations
man Danny Tell and the star of the movies, Otto Sands. Only three men
arrived, with Conrad reporting that Otto Sands had been incommunicado since
escaping from an insane asylum two years earlier. The revelation immediately
made Sands the prime suspect.

The string of robberies continued with the felon assuming the guise of Mister Wink
(from "The Indigo Vase"), the Black Knight and the Phantom. Fowler was mulling
the strange ticking that he'd heard during his encounter with the Black Knight when he
received stunning news from New York -- Otto Sands had died in 1954!
Instantly, it all came together. Leif Conrad had lied about Sands and the ticking
sound belonged to a stopwatch, enabling the obsessive director to time his
duplicated scenes perfectly.

For his final act, Conrad planned to reenact the suicidal plunge into the ocean from the
conclusion of "Phantom of the City." Rushing to the city bridge, Fowler shouted "Retake!"
and manipulated the mad Conrad into coming down until they could "shoot the
scene all over again." As the madman was taken into custody, Fowler theorized
that Conrad had hoped to use the stunts to revive his failed career but lost
his final grip on his sanity in the process (SHOWCASE # 5, by Jack Miller and
Mort Meskin).

But, somehow, I don't think this is who Hellstone was referring to. Briefly, here's a look
at some other musical menaces:

Monsieur Maestro may well predate all of the others but virtually nothing is known
of his criminal career. Today, he resides in an extended care facility (1999's ACTION COMICS
# 756).

In a rural community early in the 20th Century, nine boys had aspirations of becoming
successful in the music fields. By the 1920s, all of them had made it, all that is but
Hector Bauer. In desperation, he asked his friends to perform one of his
compositions. The end result was a disaster. Hector simply had no talent. A
head injury left Bauer convinced that his symphony had been deliberately
bungled by the eight men and he resolved to get revenge. In 1943, he was
finally prepared to fulfill his vow, making plans to destroy each man's
livelihood, destroying the violinist's prize instrument, for instance, or
slicing off the pianist's fingers. A chance encounter with Hawkman exposed
the scheme to the Justice Society, who thwarted the plot and brought Bauer to
justice (ALL-STAR COMICS # 19).

Like Hector Bauer, concert pianist Payne Cardine was motivated by scathing reviews of his
performances. Adopting a costume festooned with musical notes and assembling
a gang, the second Maestro promised to "make my musical performances more
famous than those of any other virtuoso!" He dutifully left cryptic musical
clues to his next crimes for Batman and Robin, confident that they wouldn't
be able to figure them out. Indeed, the Dark Knight was stumped but he soon
solved the problem by taking another costumed partner, the Sparrow, who
possessed an unrivaled expertise on the subject. The Sparrow was secretly
music professor Ambrose Weems, whom Batman had disguised to protect him from
the Maestro's vengeance (1962's BATMAN # 149).

Only a few months later, Batman faced another Maestro alongside the Justice League
-- without leaving the team's Secret Sanctuary. This villain, whose music controlled the
motor responses of his victims and made them virtual puppets, was the fictional
creation of aspiring cartoonist Jerry Thomas (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 16).

The third Maestro had far loftier ambitions than mere robberies. Using his tyrano-
baton, he stripped Superman of his memories and, using Lois Lane's family as hostages, forced
the Daily Planet reporter to coerce the Man of Steel into a life of evil. The
dapper Maestro, complete with a suit and tails and a mop of white hair (plus
Sivana-esque glasses, nose and overbite), also possessed an
emotion-manipulating keyboard that rivalled the Psycho-Pirate. Using the
device to fill the villain with remorse, Lois learned that he'd intended to
force Superman to lay the groundwork for missile bases in the Latin American
country of Santoro that would eventually lead to a nuclear war with the United
States (LOIS LANE # 75).

During the same time frame, millionaire Oliver Queen was approached by musician Anton
Allegro, who begged Queen for funding to help promote the sophisticated synthesizer that
he'd built. Allegro's paranoia that his manager, ex-wife and mentor were
conspiring against him combine with Queen's need to change to Green Arrow to
prevent a crime prompted Ollie to give the musician the brush off. Upon his
departure from the office building, Allegro had the misfortune of being
within close range of one of GA's sonic arrows -- and was permanently
deafened. Wracked with guilt, Queen paid for all of Allegro's medical
treatment but the musician had vowed to seek more lethal reparations.

Discovering a centuries-old book of forbidden spells, Allegro enhanced his synthesizer so
that the sound of its keyboard now generated demons. In 1978, as the Amazing Allegro,
he began a series of attacks on his perceived enemies, beginning with Queen.
Green Arrow alerted the Justice League and, thanks to Zatanna's magic and
Black Canary's sonic cry, the demonic onslaught was crushed and Allegro
disoriented sufficiently to be captured (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 163-164).

Escaping from a New York asylum, Allegro fled to the Russian homeland, offering his
synthesizer as an inducement to allow him into the country. In short order, Allegro was
confined to a cell in the Soviet science community of Star City. His
synthesizer was given to Pasha Gorki, who used its demonic power to help his
brother Anton, a Russian general, stage a two-pronged revolt against both the
Kremlin and the United States. The fourth Maestro's attack left Superman,
Wonder Woman and the Flash imprisoned but the arrival of the so-called "new"
Justice League permitted them to escape. It was Anton Allegro who truly ended
the crisis, smashing his prized synthesizer with the butt of a gun and being
shot through the heart by Anton Gorki in retaliation (1985's JLA # 237-238).

MikishawmMember

posted June 18, 2000 08:57 PM

In 1969, thanks to his successful revamp of WONDER WOMAN, Mike Sekowsky was a
hot commodity at DC and he was given a free hand to develop new features for
SHOWCASE. Thus was born "Jason's Quest", described as "the unusual story of a
boy ... his bike ... his search."

SHOWCASE # 88 set up the situation: Late in 1969, Jason Davis' father was
mortally wounded in a shooting. Summoned to his deathbed, the blonde young
man listened to a stunning series of revelations. His real name was Jason
Grant, Jr. and his natural father had been murdered when he was an infant.
The killer was a mobster named Tuborg, who sought the elder Grant's latest
invention. As Tuborg's killers combed the house for witnesses, Grant's
servant, Davis, rushed to the nursery, commanding the housekeeper to take
Jason's twin sister into hiding while he did the same with young Jason. Over
the next nineteen years, Davis moved himself and Jason constantly, always
trying to stay one step ahead of Tuborg.

In preparation for the day Jason would take over the fight, Davis drilled commando
training into the boy's head. With his final breath, he gasped, "Your sister ... somehow
your father secreted on her person evidence that will end Tuborg and his evil
empire. In the fireplace at home ... the box your father gave me -- it has
your papers ... money ... and -- and ... I'm ... I'm ... sor --"

Unknown to Jason, Tuborg had planted a bug in the hospital room and heard every word.
Finding Jason's sister was now their number one priority. What followed was a race between
Jason and Tuborg to get to her first. In London, Jason found a picture of his
sister but failed to recognize her in a chance encounter. She was wearing a
black wig and calling herself GeeGee.

After evading Tuborg's assassins for days, armed with nothing but his wits and his
motorcycle, Jason crossed paths with GeeGee again in # 90. This time he recognized her.
Unfortunately, Tuborg's men were everwhere and Jason was forced to flee --
dragging his sister along. Constantly on his guard, Jason never had a moment
to explain to GeeGee just why he was so desperate to talk to her. They were
finally forced to split up but Jason asked her to meet him at a prearranged
location the next day.

Watching him ride away to safety, she commented that "if he expects me to meet him
tomorrow -- he's off his chump! If I EVER see that crazy man again -- I'll take off in the
OPPOSITE direction as FAST as I can go! Goodbye -- and good riddance!"

And that's as far as "Jason's Quest" ever got. In the mid-1980s, long before he was a
bankable name, Kurt Busiek cited the series as a dream project in a COMICS BUYER'S
GUIDE interview. Wonder if he's still interested.

It looks like I'm going
to be tied up and away from the boards for the next week. If I don't show up
for the next several days, don't panic.

Thanks, everybody!

HellstoneMember

posted June 19, 2000 04:16 AM

What - me panic?

/ola

Tenzel KimMember

posted June 19, 2000 10:36 AM

Ola: If you're not gonna panic, then how about coming up with some more
character questions. In your original post you said you had you had millions
more and this is just way to interesting a history lesson to let the thread die.
And if you get bored waiting for Mikishawm to return you could always write
some of the info already appearing in this thread into regular who's who profiles

a2-tonNew Member

posted June 19, 2000 12:04 PM

This seems to be the board to ask. I've been trying to find out who the
cowboy on page 53 of LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS SPECIAL
is/was. He is wearing a blue cowboy hat and standing next to John Stewart and behind
Dream Girl and Brainiac 5?

Also, does anybody know if The Clipper was a real costumed mystreyman or just a figment of
Flash's supporting character Mason trowbridge over in Flash? Thank you.

D. R. BlackMember

posted June 19, 2000 03:54 PM

I think the cowboy is supposed to be Rick Wilson, the character who appeared
in the "Outlaw" feature in the early issues of ALL-STAR WESTERN (when it was revived with
#1 in the 1970's).

The color of Rick's hat and clothes seemed to change with every issue (in one
his hat is balck, in another its green), but the giveaway is the bandana/shawl
he wears around his neck.

Check it the LDCU story, and he's wearing a purple bandana on his neck. In ALL-STAR
WESTERN, it was more of a shawl (like a mini cape, almost) and was colored dark red, but
that's close enough for me.

XanadudeMember

posted June 19, 2000 04:51 PM

Just a small point of clarification - El Dragón, from the Super DC Dictionary,
was not, strictly speaking, a DC character and I don't think he was created by Joe Kubert.
He was a created, apparently, by the marketing guys at Warner as an educational hero, and
used in the Dictionary. (Check out the copyright info in the front of the Dictionary.)
To my knowledge, he hasnt appeared anywhere else.

Oh yeah - he had a KICK-ASS costume and electrical powers.

HellstoneMember

posted June 20, 2000 03:39 AM

Mikishawm, having checked a few JLA and JSA sites on the web, I've now
encountered information saying that both JSA foe Hector Bauer and JLA baddie
Pasha Gorki called themselves MAD Maestro. You're saying that was not the case?

/ola

MikishawmMember

posted June 25, 2000 03:46 PM

Ah, questions, questions ...

No, neither was referred to as "Mad Maestro" in the stories themselves. Hawkman
referred to Bauer as "the mad maestro" in AMERICA VS. THE JSA # 3, though, and the
JLA INDEX # 7 identifies Gorki as "The Mad Maestro" even though, in the story itself,
his brother referred to him exclusively as Maestro.

The cowboy in the Crisis issue of LEGENDS was a miscolored Johnny Thunder. Paul Ryan only
drew characters who'd appeared in the original mob scene in CRISIS # 5 and you'll note that
Johnny Thunder was wearing the same outfit (albeit with a red shirt).

The Clipper was the creation of William Messner-Loebs, a Shadow parody appearing in
1988's FLASH # 20 and 23. He was a demented, gun-wielding vigilante of the early 1930s who
eventually, according to # 23, disappeared without a trace. Mason Trollbridge
was his kid sidekick and tried to take the identity as his own in # 23.

And now, on with our show:

Former construction worker Titus Samuel Czonka was the Lenny to Arthur Brown's George, a
bald giant of a man with more brawn than brains. "His problem's simple," said Brown. "He likes
to BREAK things" (1993's ROBIN # 1, by Chuck Dixon, Tom Grummett and Scott Hanna).

Czonk entered into a partnership alongside Brown (a.k.a. the Cluemaster) and the
Electrocutioner to escape Blackgate (ROBIN # 2). Czonk was convinced that he needed a costume
to work with the other two villains but the Cluemaster had no time for suggestions.
Left to his own devices, the muscleman put together an outfit that included a flight cap and
goggles, orange pants and a yellow shirt with a violet question mark in the center:

"Stand back in amazement for the coming of -- The Baffler, master of mysteries."

Wiping away his tears of laughter, the Cluemaster explained that leaving hints to upcoming
crimes "had a nasty habit of getting me caught." The sheepish Baffler opted not to
mention the letter he'd sent to the "gothem city Police dept. Detectifes -
important! Contains clues." The clue in question was written on the back of
Hide-A-Wee Motor Lodge stationary (ROBIN # 3). So much for the secret hideout.

At Cluemaster's suggestion, Czonk took a more dignified persona -- the Headbanger
-- that reflected his penchant for, well, banging his hard head against his
opponents' own craniums. The yellow shirt had given way to a green one with a
skull emblazoned on it (ROBIN # 4). The trio's plot to loot an armored car
eventually went awry, with Cluemaster and Headbanger falling before Robin
while the Electrocutioner was kayoed by the Spoiler (ROBIN # 5).

Czonk and Cluemaster made an escape attempt but were trounced by Batman (1994's DETECTIVE
# 680) and ended up in Blackgate as cellmates (ROBIN # 14, 16). The duo's subsequent
attempt at leading a mass prison breakout (1996's BATMAN: BLACKGATE #
1)resulted in their being tried separately at their next hearing. Using a
bathroom break as a cover, he snapped his handcuffs and escaped custody. "And
the funny part is I really HAD to go." (ROBIN # 44).

Resuming the guise of the Baffler, Czonk lured Robin and the Spoiler to a building
targetted by the city for detonation and took them hostage. He reasoned that their demise
would prove to the Cluemaster that "the Baffler's a world class operator!"

"And soon I'll be bad guy number one! They laughed at me for the LAST time! Vaya con devo,
you little do-gooders. The Baffler is -- "

CLONG!

-- knocked out cold by a low-hanging steel pipe.

Robin and the Spoiler eventually broke their bonds and, along with a groggy Baffler, ran
for their life to escape the crumbling building. "Maybe this vigilante thing is COOLER
than the villain gig," Czonk observed. "We could be like a team, huh ?" Two
fists to the jaw later, the Baffler had his answer (1997's ROBIN # 43-44).

Czonk and the Cluemaster escaped Blackgate during the Gotham earthquake, making it as far
as a mall before the Baffler was beaten to a pulp by the Huntress (1998's BATMAN:
SPOILER/HUNTRESS: BLUNT TRAUMA # 1). The Baffler escaped custody only to be
recaptured by Lock-Up and incarcerated in his No Man's Land prison. Unable to
shave his head, Czonk's hair had begun to grow back by the time Nightwing
arrived to lead him and his fellow captives to freedom (1999's NIGHTWING # 36-37).

Only Chuck Dixon knows where he might appear next.

Next: O.G.R.E. and the Atomic Knight!

MikishawmMember

posted June 26, 2000 06:23 AM

In 1966, the Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement threatened to
collapse before it could even get off the ground. It seems there was a
henchmen deficit. The proliferation of organizations like S.P.E.C.T.R.E.,
T.H.R.U.S.H., C.A.W., C.Y.C.L.O.P.S. and V.U.L.T.U.R.E. had nearly exhausted the supply
of working class hoods that start-up world-beaters like O.G.R.E. needed to prosper.
What O.G.R.E. lacked in manpower, it more than made up for in nerve. By early
1966, the group had acquired enough notoriety to induce the U.S. government
to recruit Atlantis' sovereigns, Aquaman and Mera, to investigate the
villains' interest in an island resort in the Caribbean. Stalking the aquatic
duo was another romantic couple, a rough-hewn muscleman known as Typhoon and
an attractive brunette called the Huntress who wielded a spear gun.

Capturing the Huntress, Aquaman and Mera learned that she and her lover were pawns of
O.G.R.E., forced to their bidding because of the threat of an explosive
"liquidation cell" implanted in their bodies. Believing he finally had the
upper hand on O.G.R.E.'s Supreme One (clad in a black hood and robe), Aquaman
invaded his crab-like saucer and dismantled the liquidation switch -- but was
taken captive.

Aquaman learned that O.G.R.E. had been contracted by a foreign government to retrieve a
forgotten cache of nuclear missiles beneath the island, an arsenal that they'd use to
blackmail the United States. The Supreme One had reckoned without Mera, who
drafted the Huntress, Typhoon and divers from the U.S. Navy to take on the
Supreme One and his partners. The case was closed when the Huntress led
Aquaman to the Supreme One's headquarters within the island's resort. The
removal of the black hood revealed the hotel manager, who'd been kidnapping
guests and forcing them to act on his behalf under penalty of death (AQUAMAN
# 26, by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy).

Rumors abound that the reformation of O.G.R.E.'s initial pair of agents didn't take. One
report identified them as the Huntress and Sportsmaster who fought Batgirl and Robin
in BATMAN FAMILY # 7. Another suggests that the latter-day Huntress was
Artemis Crock, daughter of the 1940s villainess and a future foe of Infinity,
Inc. (INFINITY, INC. # 34-36) and the JSA (JSA # 9-10). None of this has been
confirmed.

In November, Aquaman was contacted again by his government liason, the Tall Man, who had
been alerted to a new threat by O.G.R.E. to encase the United Nations building in a force
field. Liquid would counteract the effect and Aquaman followed through by
insulating the U.N. in a cocoon of water. In fact, the Tall Man had been
impersonated by an O.G.R.E. leader named Krako and water -- far from being a
failsafe -- was a crucial ingredient in the CREATION of the force field. Once
again, O.G.R.E. had overcome its lack of resources.

The imprisonment of the U.N. representatives by the leader of Atlantis made Aquaman an
international fugitive, pursued not only by law enforement agencies but O.G.R.E.
themselves, whose warriors were clad in brown shirts, white pants and red,
ant-like helmets that matched their boots and gloves. In the end, Aquaman
managed to get inside the U.N. dome and assist the real Tall Man in defeating
the kidnappers while Mera used her hard water power to make the watery force
field brittle and easily shattered (AQUAMAN # 31, by Haney and Cardy).

Feeling the pinch of its dwindling revenue, most of the remaining O.G.R.E. cells threw in
their lot with agents of S.P.E.C.T.R.E., T.H.R.U.S.H. and C.Y.C.L.O.P.S. as part of the
European-based Empire of Evil. The amalgamation's assaults on the Blackhawks
proved no more successful than O.G.R.E.'s own encounters with Aquaman and
Mera had been (BLACKHAWK # 229 and 231, by Haney, Dick Dillin and Chuck
Cuidera).

By 1970, the sun was setting on the era of the abbreviated criminal group but
O.G.R.E. still had one last scheme up its sleeve. A pair of agents approached
California tycoon Eliot Harlanson and related a fanciful tale in which they
claimed that the impending rise of Atlantis would cause California to sink
into the ocean. The dire fate could be prevented if Harlanson would bankroll
an atomic bomb to destroy the undersea continent. To ensure that Aquaman was
in Atlantis at the time of the explosion, O.G.R.E. hired another dupe to
attack the city -- Black Manta.

Government agents caught up with the O.G.R.E. duo in Florida but they were too late to
stop the bomb. As it turned out, that angle had already been taken care of -- the a-bomb
bounced harmlessly into the soil outside of Atlantis. The government had
planted a lovely blonde agent named Honey James alongside Harlanson and she
arranged for the bomb to be a dud.

"Oh, by the way," one G-man told Aquaman and Aqualad, "From now on you won't be having
any more trouble with O.G.R.E. We've finally located O.G.R.E.'s secret headquarters.
We'll be moving in and mopping up shortly. They'll be having so much trouble
with us, they simply won't have TIME to bother you!" (AQUAMAN # 53, by Steve
Skeates and Jim Aparo).

Gardner Grayle had a dream. Actually, it was more of a nightmare ... but we're
getting ahead of ourselves.

Grayle was a well-regarded army sergeant and a former member of Platoon 13, who, along
with their knight icon, was immortalized in a tattoo on his shoulder.
Regarded as an everyman, he seemed to be the ideal subject for a S.T.A.R.
Labs virtual reality experiment on the survivability of a nuclear war. Grayle
took the assignment at the request of his superiors but made no secret of his
own opinions to the project's Doctor Bryndon:

"Nuclear and atomic weapons give war a bad name. What happened to honor and fairness ?
Soldier vs. soldier ? It's getting too easy to kill. We watch our enemies die on a
computer screen. There's no integrity or bravery in that."

His opinions notwithstanding, Gardner Grayle found technology thrust upon him when a
crisis initiated by the Injustice League threatened the planet Rann and,
inevitably, Earth. He was recruited by Deadman, who urged him to borrow a
silver and gold protoype S.T.A.R. warsuit. Taking flight, Grayle still had
his doubts but vowed that "if it's valor the world needs, there's still one
Shining Knight to deliver it!"

The new Shining Knight became part of a modern-day Seven Soldiers of Victory and
field-tested his armor against Doctor Light. The villain made quick work of his shield but,
joining with Metamorpho, Grayle found that his energy sword and freeze ray
were more than enough to defeat the Injustice Leaguer (2000's SILVER AGE:
SHOWCASE # 1, by Geoff Johns & Dick Giordano). A second clash with the
team of rogues effectively brought Gardner's costumed career to a halt when
Chronos aged the prototype armor into dust (SILVER AGE 80-PAGE GIANT # 1). "I
might have done a lot of good as the Shining Knight -- but Chronos cost me my
shot forever. I'll never be a champion. I'll just be a footnote in the history books."

Pecking him on the cheek, the Metal Men's Tina suggested that "maybe there'll be some great
disaster someday and you'll be needed again."

A few years later, Superman found himself allied with Grayle again, albeit in a v.r. dream
that he's unwittingly tapped into while seeking the source of several
computer-originated nuclear mishaps. In the fantasy, Gardner was the leader
of a post-World War Three band known as the Atomic Knights: Bryndon and
siblings Douglas & Marene Herald and Wayne & Hollis Hobard (recounted
by John Broome and Murphy Anderson in 1960-1964's STRANGE ADVENTURES # 117,
120, 123, 126, 129, 132, 135, 138, 141, 144, 147, 150, 153, 156, 160, plus
Cary Bates & Walt Simonson's fractured account in 1977's HERCULES UNBOUND # 10-11) .

When he began to question several illogical aspects of the Knights' world, the Man of
Steel was forcibly ejected from the fantasy. Recognizing Grayle's girlfriend as
S.T.A.R. psychologist Marene Herald, Superman sought her out and learned of
the nuclear v.r. experiment, one that had been erased from the minds of
Herald, Bryndon and the others involved.

With her memories restored, Herald quickly located the chamber where the real Gardner
Grayle was still in suspended animation. She theorized that, with his physical
senses dormant, Gardner's mental faculties expanded "and he may have used his
newfound abilities to take over the simulation scenario, altering it
drastically. Because the utter devastation of a nuclear holocaust that the
simulation posited was too ghastly for the mind of the average person to cope
with ..., Gardner reprogrammed the simulation to create a fantasy world of
great adventure ... a place where he would emerge as a hero who is in charge
of events rather than the faceless victim of them."

Realizing that Grayle was unconsciouslessly trying to bring his post-nuclear world into
reality, Superman made a desperate attempt to stop a launch of the world's armada of
nuclear missiles. With the Man of Steel held at bay by robotic defenders,
Marene assisted in the only way she could, tossing the most potent dose of
reality into Grayle's fantasy that she could think of: "Douglas Herald isn't
my brother ... he's my HUSBAND!"

The distraction was enough to enable Superman to stop the launch and awaken Grayle.
Horrified at what almost happened, Gardner opined that "the whole project was misguided
from the start ... the task before mankind isn't to survive an atomic war.
It's to work in this world we're living in to make certain such a war can
never begin!" (1983's DC COMICS PRESENTS # 57, by Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn, Alex Saviuk
and Frank McLaughlin)

The time in sensory deprivation left Gardner Grayle permanently changed. His mind had
expanded and S.T.A.R. hired him on the spot, anticipating a plethora of scientific
breakthroughs. Like Cassandra in ancient Greece, he also had precognitive
flashes that enabled him to glimpse coming catastrophes ... predictions that
no one would believe. Goaded by the spirit of Cassandra herself, Gardner used
his newfound scientific expertise to recreate the Shining Knight armor
(1984's WONDER WOMAN # 322-323, by Mishkin and Don Heck) and return as the
Atomic Knight (WW # 325).

"The battle suit's solar power cells were designed to operate even under the reduced light
conditions of nuclear winter" and enabled the Knight to imprison his foes in a stasis
field as well as firing bursts of heat or cold. Hoping to prevent the vision
of nuclear holocaust that he'd foreseen days earlier, the Atomic Knight
joined with Wonder Woman to defeat the alien Ytirflirks. Unable to stop the
beings' "doomsday device" from being activated, Grayle pushed his suit's
capabilities to the limit to carry the bomb into the stratosphere. In the
wake of the Phlogiston Bomb's explosion, the Atomic Knight was nowhere to be
seen -- but his sacrifice had saved the world (1985's WW # 325-326).

The unsung savior did survive, though whether it was due to his armor's defenses or the
intervention of the Monitor is unknown. In any event, the Atomic Knight
joined the Forgotten Heroes for the final conflict of the event known as the
Great Crisis (1985's CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS # 11-12, by Wolfman, Perez and Ordway).

Grayle put super-heroics on the backburner for several months, focusing all of his
attention on his day job. It paid off with a director's position, complete with a private jet
and a hefty raise in salary. The visions of death and destruction had not faded
away, however, and Gardner sought out renowned scientist Helga Jace in the
hope of finding a cure. Instead, the Atomic Knight was provided with another
reason to go into action, fighting alongside the Outsiders in a futile
attempt to prevent the destruction of their Los Angeles base at the hands of
Major Disaster (1987's OUTSIDERS # 25, by Mike W. Barr, Jim Aparo and Bill Wray).

With a new crisis brewing in Geo-Force's home country of Markovia, the Atomic Knight
offered to accompany them (# 26) and was alongside the team when Jace betrayed them to
the Manhunters. Gardner Grayle was central to Jace's subsequent scheme, which
thrust all of the Outsiders into the reality of the Atomic Knights. It was
Gardner's own unspoken feelings for the young Outsider known as Windfall that
finally enabled the heroes to snap out of their mental prison.

Although their age difference made Gardner reluctant to commit to a relationship with
Windfall, he had no regrets about the closure that his brief return to the fantasy world
had given him. "It was only a dream, Wendy ... but like many dreams, it held
a valuable lesson. The world is basically a good one, and worth fighting for
... and as long as people continue to struggle against oppression, the spirit
of the Atomic Knights shall not be lost!" (# 27, by Barr and Erik Larsen).

The Atomic Knight remained at the Outsiders' side for the duration of the Manhunter
conflict but an accumulation of tragedies involving Metamorpho, Halo and Looker led
the team to disband (# 28). Over the next several months, Gardner stayed in
touch with his new friends, becoming particularly close to Brion (Geo-Force)
Markov, who was still mourning the death of his sibling Gregor. Indeed, Brion
would come to regard himself and Gardner as "closer than brothers" (1994's OUTSIDERS # 4).

The reunion of the Atomic Knight and the Outsiders was anything but cordial, however.
Learning that the team had been branded as outlaws (1993's OUTSIDERS # 1, by Barr, Paul
Pelletier and Robert Campanella), Gardner was skeptical and completed an
upgrade on his armor (now largely gold) to determine the truth (# 2-3).
Predictably, a fight ensued (# 4) but the new Atomic Knight held his own
against Geo-Force (# 5). Trailing the team to Abyssia (# 10), Gardner finally
discovered proof that the team had been framed by the vampiric Roderick (# 11).

On the eve of Brion's wedding to Denise Howard, the Outsiders were summoned to the planet
Nekrome to help defeat the threat of Eclipso. Seeking back-up, Denise asked the
Atomic Knight to join the team. Gardner was particularly happy to see Wendy
(Windfall) Jones, whom he greeted with a passionate kiss. There were no
longer any reservations in his feelings (# 23). With the Eclipso infestation
extinguished, the team returned to Earth, where a smiling Gardner and Wendy
witnessed the marriage of Brion and Denise (1995's OUTSIDERS # 24).

outpost2New Member

posted July 04, 2000 02:31 PM

Been enjoying this thread tremendously and thought I would try to add
something to the mix. The previous discussions of the original characters
that appeared in 'The Super Dictionary' from 1978 prompted me to search out
and order the book on bibliofind.com. Although it turned out that the book
was missing two pages (pp.103-104), I compiled what I could on the characters
and generated web pages for each. The characters in question are: Conjura, El
Dragón, Jody (although I forgot to scan his pic!), Jonna Crisp, SR-12, Ted
& Teri Trapper, and Wilson Forbes.

The link to these pages is
http://www.infiniteearths.org/dcu/whoswho

Oh, and if anyone else owns the dictionary, let me know if there is any other useful
data on the two missing pages. Thanks.

History: Conjura has been performing true magic since she was a child. As a front
for her activities, she holds regular magic shows. She practices at night, studying various
magic books and speaking her incantations in reverse. Her time tunnel enables her to travel
to other times.

Weapons and Powers: Conjura wields magic by speaking her incantations backwards.
She can travel to other times through her time tunnel. Her necklace shines to warn her of
danger.

Comments: Conjura was born in October. To relax, she plays the fife. Conjura
appeared in The Super Dictionary, published in 1978 by Warner Educational Services, Inc. and
Holt, Rinehart and Winston on Canada, Ltd. (ISBN 0-03-043756-3). The character of Conjura is
copyright (c) 1978 by DC Comics, Inc..

History: El Dragón is as brave as his namesake. He uses his mental control
over all things electrical to wage a never-ending battle against crime.

Weapons and Powers: El Dragón has mental control over things that use
electricity.

Comments: El Dragón was born in May. He is single, and owns a pet parrot.
El Dragón appeared in The Super Dictionary, published in 1978 by Warner Educational
Services, Inc. and Holt, Rinehart and Winston on Canada, Ltd. (ISBN 0-03-043756-3). The
character of El Dragón is copyright (c) 1978 by Warner Educational Services, Inc..

History: Jody was born in the United States during Colonial times. He fought in the
Revolutionary War to help win the U.S. it's independence. Along with his good friend,
Tomahawk, he has explored many parts of the country.

Weapons and Powers: Jody is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant.

Comments: Jody appeared in The Super Dictionary, published in 1978 by Warner
Educational Services, Inc. and Holt, Rinehart and Winston on Canada, Ltd.
(ISBN 0-03-043756-3). The character of Jody is copyright (c) 1978 by DC Comics, Inc..

History: Jonna Crisp is a spaceship pilot. Although she was born on Earth, she
spends a lot of time traveling through interstellar space to many other worlds. Although she
occasionally has passengers, she usually travels alone. On many occasions, Jonna has kept the
spaceways safe for others. She has been alive for a long time, and knows many
extraterrestrial peoples. Jonna has trained many pilots during her career.

Weapons and Powers: Jonna Crisp is a superior spaceship pilot. She sometimes
protects herself with a handheld weapon.

Comments: The exact time period of Jonna Crisp's adventures is not revealed. It is
assumed here that she is active in the 22nd century, around the time of many other DC Comics
space adventurers. In her spare time, she enjoys ice skating. Jonna Crisp appeared in The
Super Dictionary, published in 1978 by Warner Educational Services, Inc. and Holt, Rinehart
and Winston on Canada, Ltd. (ISBN 0-03-043756-3). The character of Jonna Crisp is copyright
(c) 1978 by DC Comics, Inc..

History: SR-12 is from another world in a far away solar system. Her planet is a
peaceful, pleasant world. The people of her homeworld are, on average, smaller than Earth
people. SR-12 has purple hair and eyes. She travels in her spaceship to many worlds, and has
visited Earth often. She speaks her native language and English. Although she is playful,
SR-12 does not feel at home amongst Earth folk, however she does have a few friends on Earth.
She often visits her family back home, a mother and father and two sisters.

Weapons and Powers: SR-12 is a skilled pilot and knows a good deal about the
sciences.

Comments: SR-12 appeared in The Super Dictionary, published in 1978 by Warner
Educational Services, Inc. and Holt, Rinehart and Winston on Canada, Ltd.
(ISBN 0-03-043756-3). The character of SR-12 is copyright (c) 1978 by DC Comics, Inc..

Comments: Ted Trapper and Wilson Forbes were in the same class at school. Ted has a
pet cat. Teri plays the piano and rides a motorcycle. Ted and Teri Trapper appeared in The
Super Dictionary, published in 1978 by Warner Educational Services, Inc. and Holt, Rinehart
and Winston on Canada, Ltd. (ISBN 0-03-043756-3). The characters of Ted and Teri Trapper are
copyright (c) 1978 by DC Comics, Inc..

History: Wilson Forbes is a newspaper reporter. He works with Lois Lane and Jimmy
Olsen at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. He is an investigative reporter and thus he
occasionally works like a detective to find the truth behind a story.

Comments: Wilson Forbes and Ted Trapper were in the same class at school. To relax,
Wilson plays the harp. Wilson Forbes appeared in The Super Dictionary, published in 1978 by
Warner Educational Services, Inc. and Holt, Rinehart and Winston on Canada, Ltd.
(ISBN 0-03-043756-3). The character of Wilson Forbes is copyright (c) 1978 by DC Comics,
Inc..

huntsmanMember

posted July 05, 2000 12:01 AM

I thought that the cowboy was one of the Forever People.
You know... Moonrider, Big Bear, Beautiful Dreamer, etc.

Rich MorrisseyMember

posted July 05, 2000 11:32 AM

The only Forever Person who dressed as a cowboy was Serifan, and I'm pretty
sure that's not who the character was supposed to be.

I personally like the idea that the Atomic Knights were real in some reality,
and that the Gardner Grayle seen in DC COMICS PRESENTS somehow "tuned
in" on his counterpart's life in his own dreams. (He wouldn't be the
first Earth-1 dweller named Gardner to have dreams in another universe...) As
someone recently noted on an Internet list, Dan Mishkin may have been writing
out of sheer political correctness...at the time few right-thinking people thought
humanity could survive a nuclear war (as it had in the original John Broome
series) at all. I'd personally have preferred to leave the series in an
alternate reality and not brought the character back in the mainstream at
all...though I didn't mind his recent "Silver Age" appearance by
Mark Waid, which deliberately left it vague as to his future would be that of
Broome or Mishkin ...or even, given the recent resurgence of alternate
futures, both!

HellstoneMember

posted July 05, 2000 05:47 PM

Outpost2 - thank you for the great link and bios. I'd really like some of
those characters to return (or rather to be "be introduced") to the
DCU. At least Jonna Crisp, the Trappers, El Dragón, and SR-12 look really
interesting. And they already have backstories. And hobbies!

So...now that virtually all of the 100 questions (and even more) have been answered in the
most satisfying way imaginable, I have a question. Should we finish and let go of
this thread (as I've said I would) or continue with it (as Tenzel Kim wants)
until it dies?

I COULD dig in my character lists and probably find at least 50 other obscure characters
that some of you guys could probably tell amazing stories about.

Naturally, I think that would be fun, but I'd like to know: is there any interest in this
from anyone but me (and Tenz) or are you stuffed for now? Should we take another round
immediately or wait with posting further questions until this thread is gone
and forgotten?

Tell me what you think.

On a further note:
THANKS for all your help. This is especially directed to Mikishawm (the King of
DC Knowledge), but I'm equally grateful to Rich (of course, he's the King,
too), John, D.R., Tenz, and the rest of you guys. You've given this
burnt-out-at-work comic book nerd some enjoyment in life at a daily basis.

Just curious though...What are you doing with all the information you've gathered?
Writing a book? Updating/adding on to Tenz's Whos Who website?

lastmangoNew Member

posted July 09, 2000 06:29 PM

Please don't stop. This has been one of the most entertaining boards I've ever read.

Hellstone, dear friend, would you care to share to entire list of DC
characters, obscure or not, with the rest of us. I've thought of attempting
such a list, but the project just seems too large and daunting.

Thanks for the happiness, everyone.

HellstoneMember

posted July 10, 2000 10:51 AM

D.R. - I have no definite plans for the info. Right now it's just for my own
enjoyment. But doubtlessly some of it will be part of future articles and profiles.

Lastmango - maybe I will make my list public some day. But not yet. It's a work
in progress and I have a lot that I want to complete first.

/ola

HellstoneMember

posted July 12, 2000 08:55 AM

Okay, I've made up my mind.

I've been looking through my DC character lists, and found quite a few
enigmas and questions that I think could be interesting to have answered.
Hopefully not only to me, but to other posters too.

And there still seems to be an interest in these topics around the boards. I was afraid
I'd exhausted some of you DC experts, but at least Mikishawm is still going strong telling
great villain stories at the Batman board.